[1] At issue was the patentability of a method of combining and analyzing borehole measurements for oil and gas exploration using a computer programmed according to mathematical formulas.
More broadly, the case stands for the proposition that the use of a computer neither adds to, nor subtracts from, the patentability of an alleged invention.
[2] In oil and gas exploration, data is collected by taking measurements using instruments lowered into boreholes in geological formations.
Schlumberger researchers (the appellants) developed a method to combine and analyze measurements to yield more meaningful information.
The court then rejected the appellant's argument that the operations were steps in a process, finding that, if the contention were true, it would have the effect that the "mere fact" of the use of a computer to perform the calculations would transform an unpatentable discovery (a mathematical formula) into patentable subject matter.