Ronald Bailey Argues that the Supreme Court Should Kill Off Software Patents

The Supreme Court has a chance to give innovation
a boost this year by rolling back one of the country’s most
economically stupid policies. With the case of
Alice Corporation v. CLS Bank International, the
justices will dive into the issue of whether companies should be
able to patent computer software.The Supreme Court has long held
that the laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas are
not patentable. Reason Science Correspondent Ronald Bailey
argues that merely adding “on a computer” or “over the Internet” to
otherwise conventional processes like selling merchandise or
sliding an icon to unlock a cell phone should not be
patentable.

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