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On 9 November 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in perhaps the most important patent case in decades: Bilski v. Kappos. On 1 September, IEEE-USA joined with Lee Hollaar in submitting an amicus curiae brief on this landmark case.

It seems like that question is answered by the patent statute, which since 1793 has indicated that “statutory subject matter” — what can be patented — is “any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.” But when it comes to new technology patents, things aren't always so simple.

As mandated by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the U.S. Copyright Office has opened rulemaking proceedings to determine when it is okay to circumvent technological measures designed to protect copyrighted works.

Lee Hollaar draws on his unique experience in the field of computer science and the law to present a comprehensive and practical analysis of patent and copyright law in the electronic age. What types of legal protection can be used, what do they protect and what they do and don’t protect, and why — it’s all covered