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第一段

Over the past decade, thousands of patents have been granted for what are called business methods.

Amazon.com received one for its "one-click" online payment system.

Merrill Lynch got legal protection for an asset allocation strategy.

One inventor patented a technique for lifting a box.

翻译译文：

过去十年间，成千上万项专利被授给了所谓的“商业方法”亚马逊公司因其“一键式”在线支付系统获得了一项专利。美林集团因其某种资产配置策略获得了法律保护某发明者取得了一种提箱技术的专利。

第二段

Now the nation's top patent court appears completely ready to scale back on business-method patents, which have been controversial ever since they were first authorized 10 years ago.

In a move that has intellectual-property lawyers abuzz, the U.S. court of Appeals for the Federal C ircuit said it would use a particular case to conduct a broad review of business-method patents.

In re Bilski, as the case is known , is "a very big deal", says Dennis D. Crouch of the University of Missouri School of law. It "has the potential to eliminate an entire class of patents."

翻译译文：

现在国家最高专利法庭似乎完全准备好缩减商业方法专利的数量，这类专利自十年前首次获批以来就一直备受争议。在一次令知识产权律师们议论纷纷的举措中，美国联邦巡回上诉法院宣称，它将利用一起特殊案件对商业方法专利开展广泛复审。这个被熟知为比尔斯基案的案件“事关重大”，密苏里大学法学院的丹尼斯·D·克劳奇说，它“有撤销一整类专利的潜力”。

第三段

Curbs on business-method claims would be a dramatic about-face, because it was the Federal Circuit itself that introduced such patents with its 1998 decision in the so-called State Street Bank case, approving a patent on a way of pooling mutual-fund assets.

That ruling produced an explosion in business-method patent filings, initially by emerging Internet companies trying to stake out exclusive rights to specific types of online transactions.

Later, more established companies raced to add such patents to their files, if only as a defensive move against rivals that might beat them to the punch.

In 2005,IBM noted in a court filing that it had been issued more than 300 business-method patents, despite the fact that it questioned the legal basis for granting them.

Similarly, some Wall Street investment firms armed themselves with patents for financial products, even as they took positions in court cases opposing the practice.

翻译译文：

对商业方法专利申请的限制也许是一次戏剧性的180度逆转，因为正是联邦巡回法院自己在1998年被称为“道富银行案”的裁决中引入了此类专利，批准了一项共同基金资产筹集方法的专利。那项裁决导致了商业方法专利申请卷宗的激增，起初是新兴网络公司试图对特定类型的在线交易占得专有权。后来，更多的老牌公司竞相将此类专利归入其卷宗，哪怕只是作为一项防御性措施以防范可能先发制人的竞争对手。2005年， IBM在一份法院案卷中注意到自己被授予了300多项商业方法专利，尽管它质疑授予这些专利的法律依据。无独有偶，一些华尔街投资公司也都以金融产品专利来武装自己，即使它们在法庭案例中表示反对这一做法。

第四段

The Bilski case involves a claimed patent on a method for hedging risk in the energy market.

The Federal Circuit issued an unusual order stating that the case would be heard by all 12 of the court's judges, rather than a typical panel of three, and that one issue it wants to evaluate is whether it should "reconsider" its State Street Bank ruling.

翻译译文：

比尔斯基案涉及一项规避能源市场风险方法的专利申请。联邦巡回法院发布了一项不同寻常的指令，宣称此案将由该法院全体12名法官听审，而不是典型的三人组听审，并且宣称法院想要评估一个问题，即，是否需要“重新审议”对道富银行案的裁决。

第五段

The Federal Circuit's action comes in the wake of a series of recent decisions by the Supreme Court that has narrowed the scope of protections for patent holders.

Last April, for example, the justices signaled that too many patents were being upheld for "inventions" that are obvious.

The judges on the Federal Circuit are "reacting to the anti-patent trend at the Supreme Court",says Harold C. Wegner,a patent attorney and professor at George Washington University Law School.

翻译译文：