[anamax]

> The real value comes from the implementation, which is only loosely connected to the patent; just as the relationship of any software to its initial specification.

Suppose that I came up with a method for solving traveling salesman in O(N2). Do you really believe that the value of a package that uses that method comes mostly from things other than the method?

Subject to what happens in In Re Bilski, you can patent the application of an algorithm to a specific problem, subject to novelty and obviousness. And no, the fact that an algorithm is obviously useful for a given problem does not trigger the obviousness bar. ("bar" = obstacle to getting a patent.)