Document Type
Article
Publication
Columbia Law Review Sidebar
Year
2007
Citation Information
Andrew A. Schwartz, Patents on Legal Methods? No Way!, 107 Colum. L. Rev. Sidebar 1 (2007), available at https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/faculty-articles/459.
Abstract
An “invention,” as used in the United States patent laws, refers to anything made by man that employs or harnesses a law of nature or a naturally occurring substance for human benefit. A watermill, for instance, harnesses the power of gravity to run machinery. But legal methods, such as tax strategies, are not inventions in this sense, because they employ “laws of man” — not laws of nature to produce a useful result.
Copyright Statement
Copyright protected. Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required.
Included in
Intellectual Property Law Commons, Legal History Commons, Science and Technology Law Commons, Tax Law Commons
Comments
"This article is premised on his work, Andrew A. Schwartz, The Patent Office Meets The Poison Pill: Why Legal Methods Cannot Be Patented, 20 Harv. J.L. & Tech. 333 (2007)."