Internet Law: e-Commerce Patents
IBLS Internet Law:
E-commerce patents are the latest protection for innovative business methods delivered online. Many claim e-commerce models are not patentable because the subject matter they assert is not within the statutory definitions and because the United States Patent office, and most patent offices around the world, are not outfitted for this analysis. Yet, at least in the United States (U.S.) and alongside disapproval, e-commerce patents are a reality supported by strong data from the U.S. Patent Office and case law.
For instance, the U.S. Patent Office July 2007 report showed that in 2006 patent requests for business methods (class 705) amounted to over 9,000 filings; just identical to those filings during the Internet bubble in 2001. According to the same report, business methods filings have steadily increased every year since 2002. Also, the U.S. Patent office is getting stricter or filings of filings for business methods are becoming meaningful; data show that the allowance rate for 2001 was 45%, 44% for 2002, and 19% for 2006. This article comments on two significant cases that laid the foundation for e-commerce patent precedents in the United States. Read on…
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