USPTO Asks for Comments on New Interim Guidance on Bilski

 
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Old 07-30-2010
USPTO Asks for Comments on New Interim Guidance on Bilski

The PTO has just issued new guidance for their examiners on Bilski, Interim Guidance for Determining Subject Matter Eligibility for Process Claims in View of Bilski v. Kappos [PDF] -- on how to follow what they think Bilski held as to what is and isn't patentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101.
"A claim to an abstract idea is not a patent-eligible process," Bilski holds, they point out, but exactly where is the line? How do you know an abstract idea when you see it? So the USPTO is asking for public comment on what they came up with for their understanding. They want to hear from the public by September 27, and they provide some specific questions and a list of factors examiners are to consider when evaluating an application.
You know pro-patent companies' lawyers in droves will be telling them that their clients should be able to patent God's method and process for creating the heavens and the earth, so you may wish to comment yourself and let them know politely where you think the line should be drawn on the abstract idea exception to subject matter eligibility as set forth in Bilski, if this is a topic you care about. Otherwise, I can see it now, their report: We got 3,201 comments saying X and only 3 saying Y, so X carries the day.

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Class::ISA(3pm) 					 Perl Programmers Reference Guide					   Class::ISA(3pm)

NAME
Class::ISA -- report the search path for a class's ISA tree SYNOPSIS
# Suppose you go: use Food::Fishstick, and that uses and # inherits from other things, which in turn use and inherit # from other things. And suppose, for sake of brevity of # example, that their ISA tree is the same as: @Food::Fishstick::ISA = qw(Food::Fish Life::Fungus Chemicals); @Food::Fish::ISA = qw(Food); @Food::ISA = qw(Matter); @Life::Fungus::ISA = qw(Life); @Chemicals::ISA = qw(Matter); @Life::ISA = qw(Matter); @Matter::ISA = qw(); use Class::ISA; print "Food::Fishstick path is: ", join(", ", Class::ISA::super_path('Food::Fishstick')), " "; That prints: Food::Fishstick path is: Food::Fish, Food, Matter, Life::Fungus, Life, Chemicals DESCRIPTION
Suppose you have a class (like Food::Fish::Fishstick) that is derived, via its @ISA, from one or more superclasses (as Food::Fish::Fish- stick is from Food::Fish, Life::Fungus, and Chemicals), and some of those superclasses may themselves each be derived, via its @ISA, from one or more superclasses (as above). When, then, you call a method in that class ($fishstick->calories), Perl first searches there for that method, but if it's not there, it goes searching in its superclasses, and so on, in a depth-first (or maybe "height-first" is the word) search. In the above example, it'd first look in Food::Fish, then Food, then Matter, then Life::Fungus, then Life, then Chemicals. This library, Class::ISA, provides functions that return that list -- the list (in order) of names of classes Perl would search to find a method, with no duplicates. FUNCTIONS
the function Class::ISA::super_path($CLASS) This returns the ordered list of names of classes that Perl would search thru in order to find a method, with no duplicates in the list. $CLASS is not included in the list. UNIVERSAL is not included -- if you need to consider it, add it to the end. the function Class::ISA::self_and_super_path($CLASS) Just like "super_path", except that $CLASS is included as the first element. the function Class::ISA::self_and_super_versions($CLASS) This returns a hash whose keys are $CLASS and its (super-)superclasses, and whose values are the contents of each class's $VERSION (or undef, for classes with no $VERSION). The code for self_and_super_versions is meant to serve as an example for precisely the kind of tasks I anticipate that self_and_super_path and super_path will be used for. You are strongly advised to read the source for self_and_super_versions, and the comments there. CAUTIONARY NOTES
* Class::ISA doesn't export anything. You have to address the functions with a "Class::ISA::" on the front. * Contrary to its name, Class::ISA isn't a class; it's just a package. Strange, isn't it? * Say you have a loop in the ISA tree of the class you're calling one of the Class::ISA functions on: say that Food inherits from Matter, but Matter inherits from Food (for sake of argument). If Perl, while searching for a method, actually discovers this cyclicity, it will throw a fatal error. The functions in Class::ISA effectively ignore this cyclicity; the Class::ISA algorithm is "never go down the same path twice", and cyclicities are just a special case of that. * The Class::ISA functions just look at @ISAs. But theoretically, I suppose, AUTOLOADs could bypass Perl's ISA-based search mechanism and do whatever they please. That would be bad behavior, tho; and I try not to think about that. * If Perl can't find a method anywhere in the ISA tree, it then looks in the magical class UNIVERSAL. This is rarely relevant to the tasks that I expect Class::ISA functions to be put to, but if it matters to you, then instead of this: @supers = Class::Tree::super_path($class); do this: @supers = (Class::Tree::super_path($class), 'UNIVERSAL'); And don't say no-one ever told ya! * When you call them, the Class::ISA functions look at @ISAs anew -- that is, there is no memoization, and so if ISAs change during run- time, you get the current ISA tree's path, not anything memoized. However, changing ISAs at runtime is probably a sign that you're out of your mind! COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1999, 2000 Sean M. Burke. All rights reserved. This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. AUTHOR
Sean M. Burke "sburke@cpan.org" perl v5.8.0 2002-06-01 Class::ISA(3pm)