In recent years, patents have been sought in a wide variety of fields once thought beyond the reach of pat-ent laws, including tax strategies, executive compensa-tion schemes, and dispute resolution. The questions of whether methods or processes in these and other areas are eligible for patent protection-especially when not tethered to a physical machine-have become hotly con-tested. Until the decision in Bilski, the Supreme Court had not spoken directly on the issue of patent eligibility in almost 30 years.
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