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Business method patents are a class of patents and one of many legal aspects of business. There is a sustained debate as to what extent such patents should be granted. They may be constituted as very important assets of some Internet-related companies. A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a patentee (the inventor or assignee) for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which...
// Balancing scales are symbolic of how law mediates peoples interests For other senses of this word, see Law (disambiguation). ...
Look up Business in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
In business and accounting an asset is anything owned which can produce future economic benefit, whether in possession or by right to take possession, by a person or a group acting together, e. ...
Background In general, any invention is eligible for patent protection if it passes the tests of patentability: patentable subject matter, novelty, inventive step or non-obviousness, and industrial applicability (or utility). An invention an object, patent, process, or technique which displays an element of novelty. ...
Within the context of a national or multilateral body of law, an invention is patentable if it meets the relevant legal conditions to be granted a patent. ...
Within the context of a national or multilateral body of law, an invention is patentable or, in other words, it satisfies the patentability requirements if it meets the legal conditions to be granted a patent. ...
Novelty is a patentability test, according to which an invention is not patentable if it was already known before the date of filing, or before the date of priority if a priority is claimed, of the patent application. ...
The inventive step and non-obviousness reflect a same general patentability requirement present in most patent laws, according to which an invention should be sufficiently inventive, i. ...
In patent law, industrial applicability or industrial application is a patentability requirement according to which a patent can only be granted for an invention which is susceptible of industrial application, i. ...
Utility (patent) or industrial applicability is a patentability test. ...
A business method may be defined as "a method of operating any aspect of an economic enterprise" [1].
Legal situation The legal situation as to whether new business methods are allowed as patentable subject matter varies from legal jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) does not specifically address business method patents. In law, jurisdiction (from the Latin jus, juris meaning law and dicere meaning to speak) is the practical authority granted to a formally constituted legal body or to a political leader to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer justice within a defined area...
The World Trade Organization (WTO, French: Organisation mondiale du commerce, Spanish: Organización Mundial del Comercio, German: Welthandelsorganisation) is an international, multilateral organization, which sets the rules for the global trading system and resolves disputes between its member states; all of whom are signatories to its approximately 30 agreements. ...
The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) is a treaty administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO) which sets down minimum standards for forms of intellectual property (IP) regulation. ...
The United States, Australia, Japan and Singapore are considered "safe havens" for business method patents. The situation in Canada, Korea and Taiwan is not clear. Patent protection for business method patents in Israel, China, India, Mexico, and most of Europe is difficult.
Australia There is no general prohibition on the patentability of business methods in Australia. Their patentability is determined by applying the tests used to determine the patentability of any type of invention.
However, in a recent decision, Grant v Commissioner of Patents [2006] FCAFC 120, [47], the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia held that a business method will only be patentable if it has a physical aspect, being a concrete, tangible, physical, or observable effect or phenomenon. Accordingly, 'pure' business methods, being those that do not have a physical aspect, are not patentable in Australia.
Canada Pure business methods cannot be patented in Canada because of its pre-constitutional (in 1982) subordination to British Common Law. Article 1(2)(c) of the Patent Law of 1977 “It is hereby declared that the following (among other things) are not inventions for the purposes of this Act, that is to say, anything which consists of …. a scheme, rule or method for performing a mental act, playing a game or doing business, or a program for a computer.” For example, the Canadian counterpart application of the U.S. patent at issue in the State Street case has been abandoned. State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) is a financial services company based in Boston, Massachusetts. ...
However, a business method patent may be patented in Canada if the patent is claimed in a manner which provides that an apparatus is involved. See Mark B Eisen, Arts and Crafts: The Patentability of Business Methods in Canada (2001), 17 C.I.P. Rev. 279.
=== European Patent Convention === Satish Kumar C
Under the European Patent Convention, "Schemes, rules and methods for (...) doing business" are not regarded as being inventions and are not patentable, "to the extent that a European patent application or European patent relates to such subject-matter or activities as such". (Article 52(2)(c) and (3) EPC). The Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, commonly known as the European Patent Convention (EPC), is a multilateral treaty instituting the European Patent Organisation and providing an autonomous legal system according to which European patents are granted. ...
Within the context of a national or multilateral body of law, an invention is patentable if it meets the relevant legal conditions to be granted a patent. ...
The Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, commonly known as the European Patent Convention (EPC), is a multilateral treaty instituting the European Patent Organisation and providing an autonomous legal system according to which European patents are granted. ...
But if a new method solves a technical, rather than a purely administrative, problem then it may indeed be patentable. (For example, an improved design of letter-franking machine).
Japan In Japan, business methods are well recognized and accepted as patentable subject matter. The legal standard used to assess whether a business method is patentable requires that inventions be "a highly advanced creation of technical ideas by which a law of nature is utilized."
Patents are not issued solely for business methods. The business method must contain a technical aspect that is both tangible and real.
However this requirement may be satisfied simply by specifying that the method is implemented using a computer.
United States Class 705 has been used by the United States Patent & Trademark Office to classify patents that claim an "apparatus and corresponding methods for performing data processing operations … uniquely designed for or utilized in the practice, administration, or management of an enterprise, or in the processing of financial data." Specifically, Class 705 includes sub-categories for industries such as health care, insurance, electronic shopping, inventory management, accounting, and finance. Insurance, in law and economics, is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of catastrophic financial loss. ...
In State Street Bank v. Signature Financial Group, Inc., (47 USPQ 2d 1596 (CAFC 1998)), the court rejected the theory that a "method of doing business" is an excluded category of invention and reiterated that a business process patent may be granted on the same basis as any other invention. The court further confirmed this principle with AT&T Corporation v. Excel Communications, Inc., (50 USPQ 2d 1447 (Fed. Cir. 1999)). These two cases confirmed the non-existence of the rumored business process exception in the US patent common law. The decision of July 23, 1998 of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in State Street Bank & Trust Company v. ...
The United States Patents Quarterly, USPQ, is a United States legal reporter covering intellectual property cases including patents, copyrights, trade secret, and trademarks from 1913 through the present. ...
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, or simply the Federal Circuit, was founded in 1982 to combine similar federal cases to a specialized appellate court. ...
As of 2001, the USPTO required that business method inventions must apply, involve, use or advance the "technological arts". This was based on an unpublished decision of the U.S. Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, Ex Parte Bowman, 61 USPQ2d 1665, 1671 (Bd Pat. App. & Inter. 2001). This requirement could be met by merely requiring that the invention be carried out on a computer. The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) is a body of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), which decides issues of patentability. ...
Ex Parte Bowman was a decision by the U.S. Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences which asserted that in order to be patentable, a process had to involve or promote the technological arts. ...
A BlueGene cabinet. ...
But in October 2005 a majority decision of the board in Ex Parte Lundgren, Appeal No. 2003-2088 (BPAI 2005), ruled that the "technological arts" requirement could not be sustained [2], as no such requirement existed in law. Ex parte Lundgren is a decision by the United States Patent and Trademark Office board of appeals, i. ...
In light of Ex Parte Lundgren, the USPTO has issued interim guidelines for patent examiners to determine if a given claimed invention meets the statutory requirements of being a process, manufacture, composition of matter or machine (35 USC 101) [3]. These guidelines assert that a process, including a process for doing business, must produce a concrete, useful and tangible result in order to be patentable. It does not matter if the process is within the traditional technological arts or not. A price for a financial product, for example, is considered to be a concrete useful and tangible result (see State Street Bank decision). The decision of July 23, 1998 of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in State Street Bank & Trust Company v. ...
The USPTO has reasserted its position that literary works, compositions of music, compilations of data, legal documents (such as insurance policies), and forms of energy (such as data packets transmitted over the Internet), are not considered "manufactures" and hence, by themselves, are not patentable. Nonetheless, the USPTO has requested comments from the public on this position. An Insurance contract determines the legal framework under which the features of an insurance policy are enforced. ...
US delays in examination As of 2006, the USPTO is experiencing significant delays in examining business method patents. Projected delays of up to 14 years have been reported [4]. The delays are due to a combination of the step change in business method filings as of the State Street Bank decision and the difficulty in hiring qualified examiners with financial services backgrounds (e.g. insurance and banking). It has also been reported, however, [5] that inventors can get their patent applications examined in as little as six months, if they submit a Petition to make special. A petition to make special is a procedure for getting particular patents examined early. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO or USPTO) is an agency in the United States Department of Commerce that provides patent and trademark protection to inventors and businesses for their inventions and corporate and product identification. ...
In United States patent law, a petition to make special (PTMS) is a formal request submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) asking that a patent application be examined ahead of the other pending applications in the same technological art. ...
Classification In the 8th edition of the International Patent Classification (IPC), which will enter into force on January 1, 2006, a special subclass has been created for business methods: "G06Q". In the previous editions, business methods were classified in "G06F17/60". This is purely a classification matter and will not change the patent laws however. The International Patent Classification (IPC) is a hierarchical patent classification system published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). ...
January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. ...
2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
See also A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a patentee (the inventor or assignee) for a fixed period of time in exchange for the regulated, public disclosure of certain details of a device, method, process or composition of matter (substance) (known as an invention) which...
A biological patent differs from a regular patent. ...
A chemical patent is an important source of technical and bibliographic information. ...
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One possible definition of a Software patent, supported by the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), is that it is a patent on any performance of a computer realised by means of a computer program. ...
There is heated debate as to whether and to what extent it should be possible to patent software and computer-implemented inventions as a matter of public policy. ...
Within the context of a national or multilateral body of law, an invention is patentable if it meets the relevant legal conditions to be granted a patent. ...
The decision of July 23, 1998 of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in State Street Bank & Trust Company v. ...
Headwords T 931/95, commonly known as Pension Benefit Systems Partnership, is a decision of a Technical Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO), issued on September 8, 2000. ...
August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ...
This article is about the year 2000. ...
Decisions of the first instances of the European Patent Office (EPO) can be appealed, i. ...
Holding Lower courts erred in issuing a permanent injunction against eBay by failing to apply the four-factor test for disputes arising under the Patent Act. ...
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