A business method patent discloses and claims a new means of practicing an economic activity. The emergence of computer- or Internet-aided business strategies caused the USPTO to reevaluate its traditional resistance to patenting business methods, because it became impractical to distinguish business innovation from technological innovation. In 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed business methods and systems as allowable subject matter. Many businesses that develop novel practices consequently now view their techniques as intellectual property and seek to protect them as assets.
As shown in our portfolio, our clients have entrusted us to seek protection on their behalf in such diverse areas as:
- Asset valuation
- Advertising methods for measuring and targeting impressions
- Confidential Internet-based elections
- Internet-based pre-pay phone system
- Real-time translator brokering
- Retirement income systems
- Secured vendor access management
- Security risk assessment.
To be patentable, a business method must be novel and non-obvious, and must produce a concrete, useful, and tangible result. It does not necessarily matter if the method is computer-dependent or otherwise technological. What does matter, to the business seeking the patent, is the potential to lock-in a competitive advantage.
Business-method patents remain controversial, and the body of law that considers their validity is still emerging. Due to an influx of this type of application, the USPTO has become slow to examine them. If you’re interested in this kind of protection, Kolisch Hartwell attorneys can help you form a strategy for protecting your innovations and decide whether to pursue a business-method patent, other types of intellectual property, or some combination.