Diamond v. Diehr
In the 1980s, the Supreme Court forced the P.T.O. to change its position. The 1981 case of Diamond v. Diehr provided the first instance in which the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the P.T.O. to grant a patent on an invention even though computer software was utilized. In that case, the invention related to a method for determining how rubber should be heated in order to be best "cured." The invention utilized a computer to calculate and control the heating times for the rubber. However, the invention (as defined by the claims) included not only the computer program, but also included steps relating to heating rubber, and removing the rubber from the heat. The Supreme Court stated that in this case, the invention was not merely a mathematical algorithm, but was a process for molding rubber, and hence was patentable. This was true even though the only new feature of this invention was the timing process controlled by the computer.
在1980年代，Diamond v. Diehr案例中，最高法院強迫專利局改變立場，要求美國專利局「核准」此件電腦軟體的專利。Diamond v. Diehr案是有關判斷塑膠是否要加熱的方法，其中使用了電腦計算與控制加熱時間，該案權利範圍不僅是包括電腦軟體，更包括了加熱的相關步驟。最高法院認為，該發明不僅只有數學演算式，更有塑造塑膠的步驟，應具有專利性。
在Diamond v. Diehr判例之後，雖然仍有判例持不同的意見，但發明人仍應要在申請一個發明案之前判斷是否僅有數學演算式。
Diehr案（US4344142）的主要圖式與主要範圍如下，其顯示以電腦為中心，延伸出各種對塑膠加熱的功能方塊，權利範圍第1項包括利用電腦執行自然對數、計時器、判斷溫度等動作：
資料來源：bitlaw.com
Ron
可接著看http://enpan.blogspot.com/2009/01/history-of-software-patents-i.html
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