Patent-ly wrong?

In one of my classes recently, students debated the pros and cons of intellectual property rights, including patents and copyrights. There is significant data to reject the primary hypothesis for these protections- that innovation would die in its absence. Linux is one good example.

Today, NYT reported that "The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to decide what sorts of business methods might be patented, an issue with the potential to reshape significant parts of the economy. “This is the most important patent case in 50 years, in particular because there is so much damage and so much good the court could do,” said John F. Duffy, a law professor at George Washington University who submitted a brief in the appeals court in support of neither side..."

If business processes are patented, then one can say sayonara to learning about best practices and getting better with continuous process improvement. Toyota has become a giant through business processes like lean. One hopes that process improvements like these are not patented but shared.