Question

The discussion forum this week involves Business Method Patents. First, in your view, what should the standard be for a business method patent? Second, please include a discussion of whether you think that Amazon should be able to patent the One-Click method of ordering goods AND whether you think Facebook should be able to patent a process that “dynamically provides a news feed about a user of a social network.”

Answer 1

ANSWER:

GIVEN THAT:

THE WEEK INVOLVES BUSINESS METHOD PATENTS:

1. Business method patents are patents that are related to a method of doing business.

2. A business method can be patented if it meets the standard requirements of patentability.

3. Thus the standard should be the same as in case of other patents and thus the holder of a business method patent would be entitled to the same rights.

4. In other words a business method that is original and useful can be patented.

5. This will make it entitled to complete or full protection of patent laws.

. I think that Amazon should not be able to patent the One-Click method of ordering goods due to the fact that the system is too obvious to patent.

7. The system relies on existing inventions and so even though it is useful it will not be considered original.

8. There is no invention involved here and so that Amazon should not be able to patent the One-Click method of ordering goods.

9. Facebook should not be able to patent a process that “dynamically provides a news feed about a user of a social network.

10. This is due to the fact that the method being used by Facebook will associate social network users with an informational stream.

11. There will be a dynamic interlinking of the systems. This is also nothing original, there is no novelty and there is no inventive step.

12. This is just a more advanced form of technology being used by RSS feeds and news streams.