论美国专利保护客体判断的两步法

On the Two-Step Approach in Judging US Patent Eligibility

自20世纪70年代起,美国对于涉及计算机领域的专利保护客体判断标准,经历了三次重要的变化。目前,美国专利保护客体判断标准采用的是两步法(也称Alice/Mayo判断法)。但适用该方法存在三个固有难点。文章结合美国近期典型案例分析难点背后的成因,以启发我国业界同行更加深入地思考。

Since the 1970 s, the standard for judging patent eligibility of inventions in relation to computer technology has undergone three important changes in US. Now, the standard in judging patent eligibility in US is the two-step approach(also called Alice/Mayo approach). However, there are three inherent difficulties in applying the approach. The paper analyzes the reasons leading to the difficulties by referring to the typical cases occurred recently in US, hoping to inspire further inquiry in this regard by Chinese industry peers.