Open Source Program (a program competitively selected by the AALS Committee on Open Source Programs)
Torrance, South Tower/Level 4, San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina
The Business of Tax Patents: At the Crossroads of Patent, Tax and Business Law
The subject matter of patents has expanded explosively since the Federal Circuit approved the patenting of software and business methods in the seminal State Street case. Recently, patents on tax planning methods have attracted the attention of courts, practitioners, academics and Congress. Yet there are radically different views of the problem and its possible solutions among practicing lawyers in the tax and IP bars. The IP bar tends to view business method patents as an appropriate expansion of the innovation incentive. The tax bar tends to view them as permitting inappropriate ownership of tax laws that are meant to apply equally to all taxpayers. The panel will discuss the ramifications of tax planning method patents for the tax and IP bars, the implications of recent developments and the patent reform legislation under consideration, and the role of IP law in business generally.
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