Читать книгу Intellectual Property Law for Engineers, Scientists, and Entrepreneurs - Howard B. Rockman - Страница 62

As touched on previously, process patents have been extended recently to cover methods of doing business, which were not considered as protected under the patent laws until a court decision in 1998. Also, computer‐related inventions are now subject to patent protection under certain conditions, as well as biotechnology creations, such as genomes and DNA strains. See Chapters 13 and 14 for more on these. As science progresses and creates totally new categories of subject matter, the patent law is initially seen as a bulwark against the protection of such new technology. However, once the importance of such new technology to the economy and to the welfare of society as a whole is realized, then the patent laws are generally interpreted by the courts to allow patent protection for such new technologies.