Patents: The patentability of software inventions: Computer-implemented inventions that are useful, new, and nonobvious may still not be patentable - except, say courts, in certain cases

Are the originators of computer inventions entitled to patent protection? The answer to this question, which has spawned considerable confusion, controversy, and debate, depends on the answer to a related question: Is the programming of digital computers one of the useful arts? If the answer is no, an entire technological field may be excluded from the benefits of the patent system.