mathematical ideas

Groklaw: "We looked at some amicus briefs submitted to the Supreme Court in support of the petitioners in In Re Bilski, so we have now a good idea of what the pro-patent forces think.

Then, as an antidote, we turned that page and read the letter that Donald Knuth submitted to the European Patent Office, expressing the view that mathematical ideas, or algorithms, should not be patented."

Groklaw: "Basically I remain convinced that the patent policy most fair and most suitable for the world will regard mathematical ideas (such as algorithms) to be not subject to proprietary patent rights."