In a unanimous decision released last Thursday (Apotex Inc. v. Sanofi‑Synthelabo Canada Inc., 2008 SCC 61), the Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that selection patents are, in principle, valid under the Canadian Patent Act. In making their pronouncement, the Supreme Court polished other legal requirements for patentability along the way. The case began 6 years […]
The much anticipated decision by the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Federal Circuit in Re Bilski is the latest development in the ongoing debate over the scope of patentable subject matter in the United States. More specifically, the case gave the Court an opportunity to re-examine the subject matter requirements for business method, software […]
The following is based on the Globe and Mail article "Major companies agree to make anti-pollution patents public," by Martin Mittelstadedt. Since January 2008 patents developed with the goal of fighting pollution have been put into the public domain by a growing number of large companies, such as DuPont and Xerox. Dubbed the "eco-patent commons," […]
In the Supreme Court decision in Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc,[1] the Court unanimously agreed to uphold the doctrine of patent exhaustion. The application of this doctrine is in the public’s best interest and therefore outweighs the detrimental impact of the doctrine on patent owners’ rights to control. LG Electronics (LG) had licensed […]
Recent public scorn concerning the faulty software patents approved by the United Stated Patent and Trade-Mark Office’s (USPTO) which led to the legal dispute between Research in Motion and NTP [1] may have been the cause for the recent shift in the USPTO’s stance towards a stricter and more onerous test for software patents. The […]
“Business method” (BM) is a generic term that has been used by many to describe various types of process claims.[1] Business method patents are patents that aim to secure the IP rights associated with a particular method of facilitating business. The Canadian Intellectual Property Office states that business method patents are de facto not patentable.[2] […]
In re Bilski, the courts must re-interpret 35 U.S.C. § 101, which states that a process can be patented. In State Street Bank v. Signature Financial Group, the court decided that business methods were patentable as long as the process produced a “useful, concrete, and tangible result” [1]. In re Comiskey, the courts put an […]
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has begun to adopt a more strict stance towards software patents. The USPTO, while not having yet called for the elimination of software patents, has certainly moved to restrict them. In doing so, the USPTO appears to have aligned itself with the US Supreme Court on the issue, […]
This is a time of significant innovation in the realm of business to reduce inefficiencies and capture potential market gains. Despite the significant barriers that currently exist, innovators should be able to protect these new and useful innovations through patents. Firstly, according to the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO), business methods are prohibited from patentability: […]
Andrew Knight, a US novelist and a patent agent, was the first to apply for a patent on the unique plot of his novel. Although the US patent office rejected Knight’s application, the author intends to appeal to the Federal Circuit. Knight espouses that patent protection is crucial because copyrights are not enough to keep […]