Talk:Business method patent
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[edit] Patentability of electromagnetic signals
In the recent guidelines on patentable subject matter that the USPTO has issued, the have reiterated their position that electromagnetic signals per se, do not fall into one of the four classes of patentable subject matter. None the less, they have asked for comments from the public. Below are arguments FOR the patentabiliy of electromagnetic signals. There is also room for arguments against patentability. Wiki editors are invited to contribute and enhance both sets of arguments.--Nowa 21:43, 29 October 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Arguments FOR the patentabilty of electromagnetic signals
It protects US commerce. With off-shoring common, it is necessary to prevent the importation of objects manufactured by processes protected by US patents. Electromagnetic signals are what computers produce. If signals were patentable, then inventors could demand a license for the importation of said signals into the US. Thus infringers could not get around a patented computer implemented process merely by locating the computer outside the US and then transmitting the results of a computation (e.g. electromagnetic signal) into the US.
Electromagnetic signals are judicially determined to have physical substance. The author of the guidelines quotes Alappat wherein it states that a smooth waveform is “ ‘a useful, concrete, and tangible result’ “. A smooth waveform is one example of an electromagnetic signal. Electromagnetic signals, therefore, have physical substance (e.g. concrete, tangible) within the meaning of the law.
An artificially produced electromagnetic signal meets the judicially accepted definition of manufacture.
The author quotes Diamond V. Chakrabarty for a definition of a manufacture:
“The production of articles for use from raw or prepared materials by giving these materials new forms, qualities, properties, or combinations, whether by hand-labor or by machinery”
As indicated above, an electromagnetic signal with certain defined physical properties is both concrete useful and tangible. It is therefore an article for use. The raw materials for a manufactured electromagnetic signal can be, for example, a carrier wave with no signal encoded. Said carrier wave is modified to produce the desired manufactured signal. The new signal has new properties, such as content and structure. These new properties are readily detectible, such as by a modem attached to a computer. The manufactured signal is produced by a machine, such as a computer.
[edit] Arguments AGAINST the patentability of electromagnetic signals
Have at it.
[edit] Controversy over current degree US business method patent availability
This article lacks an info on the debate in the US over the kinds of business method patents current be handed out. For example, Amazon.com One-click patent has been used as a example of a claimed problem with current patent law as it pertains to business methods. Their are US patent law critics who argue that business method patents should be restricted to a greater degree then they currently are in the US. Some even go so far as to argue they be prohibited outright. I am not fully versed on the arguments for and against the current state of business method patent availability but someone who is should add something on the controversy and debate. --Cab88 10:33, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
- Cab88, thank you for your comments. A good place to discuss controversy surrounding business method patents might be software patent debate. The issues are similar, since business method patents are largely computer implemented inventions.--Nowa 11:32, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
