Fenwick & West Symposium, "On the Frontier of the Future: Innovation and the Evolution of Patentable Subject Matter" Panel II: Patent Eligibility in Software and Business Methods From the software that defines smartphone functionality to financial models that manage investments, innovations in computer science and business permeate many corners of modern life. Accordingly, the patentability of software and business methods has far-ranging social and economic implications. Some argue that patent incentives are not necessary to encourage innovation in these fields and that a proliferation of exclusive rights may actually impede technological progress. Others contend that the patent system must serve the new realities of the "information economy" and extend exclusive rights to "soft technologies" in addition to traditional mechanical, chemical, and biological inventions. Recently, both the Federal Circuit and the Supreme Court have issued major rulings dealing with whether and to what extent software and business methods comprise patentable subject matter. While these decisions have sought to clarify the law, they also leave a host of unanswered questions to be resolved. Michelle Lee, Director, Silicon Valley United States Patent & Trademark Office Mark Lemley, William H. Neukom Professor of Law, Stanford Law School; Partner, Durie Tangri LLP Earl Rennison, Co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Technology Officer, Trovix Robert Sachs, Moderator, Partner, Fenwick & West Pamela Samuelson, Richard M. Sherman Distinguished Professor of Law and Information; Co-Director, Berkeley Center for Law & Technology Steve Vassallo, General Partner, Foundation Capital