Business Method Patents

Business method patents are a class of patents which disclose and claim new methods of doing business. This includes new types of e-commerce, insurance, banking, tax compliance etc. Business method patents are a relatively new species of patent and there have been several reviews investigating the appropriateness of patenting business methods. Nonetheless, they have become important assets for both independent inventors and major corporations.[1]

Contents[hide] * 1 Background * 2 History * 2.1 France * 2.2 Britain * 2.3 United States * 3 Jurisdictions * 3.1 Australia * 3.2 Canada * 3.3 Brazil * 3.4 European Patent Convention * 3.5 India * 3.6 Japan * 3.7 United States * 3.7.1 Classification * 3.7.2 Delays in examination * 3.7.3 Peer to Patent * 4 Classification * 5 See also * 6 References * 7 External links * 7.1 Papers |

[edit] Background

In general, inventions are eligible for patent protection if they pass the tests of patentability: patentable subject matter, novelty, inventive step or non-obviousness, and industrial applicability (or utility).

A business method may be defined as "a method of operating any aspect of an economic enterprise".[2]

[edit] History

[edit] France

First page of Dousset 1792 French patent for a tontine

On January 7, 1791, France passed a patent law that stated that "Any new discovery or invention, in all types of industry, is owned by its author...". Inventors paid a fee depending upon the desired term of the patent (5, 10, 15 years), filed a description of the invention and were granted a patent. There was no preexamination. Validity was determined in courts. 14 out of 48 of the initial patents were for financial inventions. In June of 1792, for example, a patent was issued to inventor F. P. Dousset for a type of tontine in combination with a lottery.[3] These patents raised concerns and were banned and declared invalid in an...