Business Method And Software Patents

Never before has one resource broken down the process for drafting software patent specifications and claims into manageable segments. Software Patents, Third Edition will show you how to draft accurate, complete patent applications -- applications that will be approved by the patent office and that will stand in court if challenged. It discusses what a software patent is and the legal protection it offers; who holds software patents and for what inventions; and the steps you can take to protect software inventions in the worldwide marketplace. The book also explores internet and e-commerce patents and information protection using the software patent. Completely revised and updated in a new looseleaf format, Software Patents, Third Edition is your authoritative source for expert guidance on: Strategic software patent protection Prior art searches Drafting claims Drafting the software patent specification Requirements for software patent drawings Patent Office examination guidelines International software patent protection Beta testing software inventions Integrating software patents with industry standards Invalidity defenses in software patent litigation

Business Method and Software Patents addresses the drafting of business-method and software patents in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bilski v. Kappos. Morgan Rosenberg and Richard Apley offer a review and analysis of all relevant case law and guidelines presented by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). With the use of actual patents filed by the authors, this work provides practical information and guidance on the drafting of successful patent applications.

In a landmark decision, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Signature Financial v. State Street Bank held that business methods may be patented. Recently, the US Supreme Court in Bilski v. Kappos left the door open for the availability of patents for business methods. These holdings, together with the explosive growth of electronic commerce and technology, make the business method patent an important growth area of intellectual property. Now in a revised Looseleaf format, this completely updated Second Edition of Business Method Patents is your guide to the unique opportunities and risks in this emerging area of intellectual property law. Business Method Patents, Second Edition is your authoritative source for expert guidance on: The landmark Supreme Court decision in Bilski v. Kappos USPTO view on business method patents, including an overview of BPAI rulings Mechanics of the patent application Prior art searches Drafting claims for business method or model and e-commerce inventions Drafting the complete specification Drawings required for business method patents Building a strategic patent portfolio Litigating business method patents International protection for business methods

"Strategies for business to use patents to make money, software patents, business method patents internet patents. Patent asset management."

This volume has chapters on e-patents, i-patents, and service patents, including new rules to invent software and Internet applications--and to patent the result. (Legal Reference)

As a result of the incorporation of computer software into countless commercial and industrial products, the patentability of software has become a vital issue in intellectual property law. This indispensable book provides an overview on the current status of computer-implemented inventions in patent law across Europe and major jurisdictions worldwide. A hugely practical field research tool with guidance based on case law, it examines the major hurdles in each particular country and describes the best practice to be adopted. Clearly showing how enforceable software patent applications can be competitively drafted and how a patent portfolio for computer-implemented inventions can be established in several countries without spending money unnecessarily on problematic examination proceedings, this book covers such issues and topics as the following: • claim categories for patent applications; • sufficient level of abstraction/breadth of the claimed invention; • fundamental terms of computing and terminological traps; • probability for patents dependent on software application areas; and • patents in core areas of computing. With separate chapters for the key countries, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, the United States, China, Korea, Japan, India, and the European Patent Office the legal situation for computer-implemented inventions in each country or region, this book includes guidance on prosecution under national law, analyses of relevant court decisions, practice checklists, and an outlook on future developments.. The authors describe claim formulation based on actual cases and on principles of computer science in order to show what might be or might not be patentable in each jurisdiction. With this incomparable resource, patent attorneys and patent professionals in companies will get a basis for making decisions about the most appropriate jurisdictions in which to file patent applications. This book will also be of great value to computer professionals who are affected by the protection of software or who are actively involved in the protection of software by patent law.

The U.S. patent system is in an accelerating race with human ingenuity and investments in innovation. In many respects the system has responded with admirable flexibility, but the strain of continual technological change and the greater importance ascribed to patents in a knowledge economy are exposing weaknesses including questionable patent quality, rising transaction costs, impediments to the dissemination of information through patents, and international inconsistencies. A panel including a mix of legal expertise, economists, technologists, and university and corporate officials recommends significant changes in the way the patent system operates. A Patent System for the 21st Century urges creation of a mechanism for post-grant challenges to newly issued patents, reinvigoration of the non-obviousness standard to quality for a patent, strengthening of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, simplified and less costly litigation, harmonization of the U.S., European, and Japanese examination process, and protection of some research from patent infringement liability.

The importance of information systems (IS) and information technology (IT) as strategic business tools has been widely acknowledged by both practitioners and academics. In fact, IT has become ubiquitous in today's business environment to the point that IT applications are viewed as strategic necessities (Barua & Lee, 1997; Clemons, 1986; Clemons & Kimbrough, 1986). Hence, researchers have long been interested in the business value of IT and its influence on gaining and sustaining competitive advantage. Many claim that IT is subject to easy duplication and lack of protection (Clemons & Row, 1991; Mata, Fuerst, & Barney, 1995; Sethi & King, 1994) and therefore sustained competitive advantage from IT is not a reality. However, other researchers have been able to show that the strategic use of IT applications can lead to longer term superior performance (Brown, Gatian, & Hicks Jr., 1995; Kettinger, Grover, Guha, & Segars, 1994; Santhanam & Hartono, 2003). A recent call for research (Mykytyn, Mykytyn Jr., Bordoloi, McKinney, & Bandyopadhyay, 2002) brought to light the possibility that business method software patents could be the missing link between the strategic use of IT and sustained competitive advantage. Software patents have become much more valuable and enforceable in recent years providing protection for the patent owner that has not been considered by academicians. In this study, 48 patenting firms were matched with 48 nonpatenting competitors and their performance was compared through a variety of measures and methods in order to explore patent-protected IT-enabled sustained competitive advantage. The ownership of business method patents was not found to be a significant contributor to competitive advantage. However, patent owning firms that were able to gain an initial performance improvement were more likely to maintain that advantage over time. This study extends the current theory of IS-enabled competitive advantage by introducing business method patents to the existing body of knowledge. In addition to its contribution to IS research, this study also benefits practitioners. The results may cause firms to question the strategic value of business method patents and the tradeoffs that are made in the process of obtaining such patents.