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International
business method patent law |
Before the landmark State Street case in
1998, the courts and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
had often denied patents to inventions that were no more than
methods of doing business. But State Street swept away three decades
of complex, inconsistent case law, firmly establishing the patentability
of business methods and computer software. An article by John
M.
Conley reviews the current state of U.S. and international patent
law with respect to business methods. After outlining the basic
U.S. and international requirements for patentability, the author
describes the evolution and current state of both American law
and international law, particularly in the European Union, various
European countries and Japan. After reviewing a number of case
histories, Conley argues that the differences between U.S. and
international law that appear so striking in theory are probably
less profound in practice.
While the American patent system has seemingly become more lenient
in granting business method patents, the USPTO has taken steps
to scrutinize such patents more rigorously on certain grounds.
In contrast, Europe and Japan, which have apparently more rigorous
business method patent standards than the United States does,
may in practice be somewhat more liberal than their policies would
indicate. Eventually, Conley predicts, U.S. and international
business method patent standards will converge, with the United
States being more permissive in theory but more demanding in practice
and Europe and Japan displaying the opposite tendency...
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