In a landmark decision, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Signature
Financial v. State Street Bank held that business methods may be patented.
Recently, the US Supreme Court in Bilski v. Kappos left the door open
for the availability of patents for business methods. These holdings, together
with the explosive growth of electronic commerce and technology, make the
business method patent an important growth area of intellectual property.
Now in a revised Looseleaf format, this completely updated Second Edition
of Business Method Patents is your guide to the unique
opportunities and risks in this emerging area of intellectual property law.
Business Method Patents, Second Edition is your authoritative
source for expert guidance on:
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The landmark Supreme Court decision in Bilski v. Kappos
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USPTO view on business method patents, including an overview of BPAI rulings
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Mechanics of the patent application
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Prior art searches
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Drafting claims for business method or model and e-commerce inventions
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Drafting the complete specification
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Drawings required for business method patents
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Building a strategic patent portfolio
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Litigating business method patents
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International protection for business methods
Chapter 1. Business Patents—The Controversy
§1.01 Drive-Thru Windows §1.02 State Street Bank Unlocks the Shackles §1.03
Judge Rich Is the Tipping Point §1.04 Business Patent Filings Explode §1.05
Business Method Patents Raise Concern §1.06 Congress Reacts to State Street
Bank Decision §1.07 Some in Congress Urge Further Action §1.08 Will Business
Model Patents Lead to Downfall of Civilization? §1.09 The Patent Office Pushes
Back
Chapter 2. State Street Bank v. Signature Financial—Judge Rich’s Legacy
§2.01 Judge Rich's Legacy §2.02 State Street Bank Litigation in the District
Court §2.03 State Street Bank Argues the Signature Claims Exalt Form Over
Substance §2.04 Signature Financial Counters—Arguing that the Alappat Decision
Compels a Finding that the Patent Is Valid §2.05 Special Interest Groups
Attempt to Influence Outcome §2.06 Holding in State Street Bank §2.07 A Short
Biography of Judge Giles S. Rich §2.08 How Would Judge Rich React to Bilski
Chapter 3. A Philosophy For Business Model Patents—The Statutory Subject
Matter Issue
§3.01 Society’s DNA §3.02 Writing—the Foundational Technology §3.03 Where Did
Our Concept of Statutory Subject Matter Come From? §3.04 Is a Bucket Brigade
Statutory Subject Matter? §3.05 A Philosophy for Understanding Statutory
Subject Matter §3.06 The Patent on a Method of Putting §3.07 Application of
the Philosophy to Business Methods §3.08 Another Example to Test the Statutory
Subject Matter Philosophy §3.09 Should a Patent System Reward Inventors of
Low-Tech Business Inventions?
Chapter 4. Supreme Court Decisions On Statutory Subject Matter
§4.01 Precomputer Era Supreme Court Decisions §4.02 Early Computer Age Supreme
Court Decisions §4.03 Supreme Court Grapples with Statutory Subject Matter —
Post State Street Bank §4.04 The Supreme Court Rejects Bilski Claims but
Leaves Business Method Patent Door Open §4.05 A Closer Look at Bilski’s Patent
Application
Chapter 5. Federal Circuit Decisions That Shaped Business Method Patents
§5.01 Past Battles Over the Statutory Line §5.02 In re Comiskey—Some Business
Methods Are Nonstatutory Abstract Ideas §5.03 In re Bilski— En Banc Federal
Circuit Reconsiders Business Method Patents §5.04 Prometheus v. Mayo — Medical
Diagnostic Methods Revisited After Bilski §5.05 Classen Decision Delayed on
Procedural Grounds §5.06 Research Corp. v Microsoft — Functional Computer
Applications Are Not Abstract Ideas §5.07 In re Ferguson Dissent Sheds Light
on How Future Courts May Treat the Abstract Idea §5.08 Patenting the
Organization of Data §5.09 In re Warmerdam §5.10 In re Lowry §5.11
Transforming Data §5.12 Arrhythmia v. Corazonix §5.13 AT&T v. Excel §5.14 Is
There a Technological Arts Requirement? —The Current Answer Is No. §5.15 In re
Nuijten Explores Whether Signal Claims Are Statutory §5.16 In re Johnston—
Record Keeping Apparatus Rejected §5.17 In re Chatfield— Judge Rich Interprets
Benson §5.18 In re Deutsch—Controlling Oil Refinery Plants §5.19 In re
Maucorps—Optimizing Sales §5.20 Paine Webberv. Merrill Lynch—the Musmanno
Patent§5.21 In re Grams—Medical Diagnostics §5.22 In re Schrader—Competitive
Bidding
Chapter 6. Judicial Decisions—Before State Street Bank
§6.01 Why Study the Early Business Method Cases §6.02 Coupon Bond Tracking
System—Munson v. The Mayor, Etc., of New York §6.03 Business Forms—Waring v.
Johnson §6.04 Book Publishing Format—Dugan v. Gregg §6.05 Bank Account
Ledgers—Thomson v. Citizens' Nat. Bank of Fargo §6.06 Insurance—United States
Credit System Co. v. American Credit Indemnity Co. §6.07 Recording
Deeds—Johnson et al. v. Johnston §6.08 Anti-Fraud Restaurant Menus—Benjamin
Menu Card Co. v. Rand, McNally & Co. §6.09 Perforated Bookkeeping
Forms—Safeguard Account Co. v. Wellington §6.10 Numbering Scheme for Insuring
Against Shipping Loss—Hocke v. New York Cent. & H. R. R. Co. §6.11 Anti-Fraud
Cash Registering—Hotel Security Checking Co. v. Lorraine Co. §6.12 Electronic
Commerce in 1910—Berardini v. Tocci §6.13 Script for the Traveler, A New Form
of Money—Rand, McNally & Co. v. Exchange Scrip-Book Co. §6.14 Commuter
Transfer Tickets—Cincinnati Traction v. Pope §6.15 Anti-Mold Fruit
Treatment—American Fruit Growers, Inc. v. Brogdex Company §6.16 Buying and
Selling Stock—In re Wait §6.17 National System for Fire Fighting—In re Patton
§6.18 Drive-in Movies—Loew's Drive-in Theatres, Inc. v. Park-in Theatres, Inc.
§6.19 Converting Bank Checks into Promissory Notes—In re Wiechers §6.20 Codes
for Processing Transactions at the Grocery Checkout Register—In re Howard
§6.21 Performing Traffic Studies on Telephone Lines—In re Waldbaum §6.22
Distribution of Recorded Audio—In re Fox §6.23 Assigning Budget Categories to
Bank Reports—In re Johnston §6.24 Assigning Priorities in Data Processing
Systems—In re Chatfield §6.25 Controlling Oil Refinery Plants—In re Deutsch
§6.26 Optimizing Sales—In re Maucorps §6.27 Cash Management Accounts—Paine,
Webber, Jackson & Curtis, Inc. v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.
§6.28 Accounting Method—Ex parte Murray §6.29 Medical Diagnostics—In re Grams
§6.30 Competitive Bidding—In re Schrader
Chapter 7. USPTO View On Business Method Patents and The BPAI Reporter
§7.01 USPTO §101 Guidelines—After Bilski §7.02 USPTO §101 Guidelines Before
Bilski [Now Superceded] §7.03 The BPAI Reporter §7.04 Discussion of Noteworthy
BPAI Cases
Chapter 8. The Origins Of Commerce
§8.01 The Internet and Money §8.02 Barter and Proto-Money §8.03 Lydians Invent
Coins §8.04 Chinese Invent Coins Independently §8.05 The Greeks Spread the
Lydian Invention of Money Throughout the Western World §8.06 Money Marches
Throughout the Roman Empire §8.07 The Chinese Invent Paper Money and Discover
Inflation §8.08 The Knights Templar Invent Banking §8.09 Italian Banking
Families Exploit the Bill of Exchange §8.10 Spanish Gold Floods Europe and
Bankrupts Spain §8.11 The United States Government Is Founded and Enters the
Banking Business §8.12 Wildcat Bankers Scatter Coherent Banking Strategy to
the Wind §8.13 The Panic of 1907 Spawns the Federal Reserve System §8.14 The
Stock Market Crash of 1929 Brings Major Changes in U.S. Monetary Controls
§8.15 The Bretton Woods Agreement §8.16 Nixon Pulls Out of Bretton Woods and
Takes the United States Off Gold Standard §8.17 Alternate Forms of Money Are
Invented
Chapter 9. The Nature Of Commerce Today
§9.01 Understanding Commerce §9.02 A Generalized Commerce Model §9.03
Fundamental E-Commerce Building Blocks §9.04 Interviewing the
Inventor—Different Vantage Points for Assessing E-Commerce Business Models
§9.05 Tracking the Value Flow §9.06 Examples of Electronic Commerce Innovations
Chapter 10. E-Commerce Technology
§10.01 E-Commerce Technology Building Blocks §10.02 Secure Electronic Commerce
§10.03 XML—The Lingua Franca of the New Internet? §10.04 Evolution of
Technology — Predicting What’s Next §10.05 Mobile Computing §10.06 Search
Technology
Chapter 11. Pure Business Model Patents
§11.01 Pure Business Model Patents §11.02 Just-in-Time Production §11.03 Model
for Reducing Financial Risk §11.04 Model for Improving Janitorial Services
§11.05 Service Business Management System §11.06 Microsoft Marketing to
Influential Rumormongers §11.07 Business Model for Strategic Management of
Lawsuits §11.08 Buying and Selling Capacity in the Semiconductor Manufacturing
Market §11.09 Music Popularity Rating §11.10 Mediating Purchase Transactions
Over a Network §11.11 Administration of Life Insurance Business §11.12
Determining Insurance Rates Based on Geographic Location §11.13 The
Never-Ending Subscription §11.14 Separating Product Pricing from Product
Distribution §11.15 Upgrading Your Airline Seat §11.16 Reserving a Place in
the Restroom Line §11.17 Preparing Grade School Students for Junior High
§11.18 Giving Someone a Haircut §11.19 Drafting a Patent Application §11.20
Going Fashion Shopping §11.21 Swinging on a Swing §11.22 Exercising a Cat
Chapter 12. Prior Art
§12.01 The Importance of Prior Art §12.02 Patent Classification System §12.03
Patent Classification Procedures §12.04 Classification of Business-Related
Patents §12.05 Conducting a Prior Art Search—Defining the Scope of Search
§12.06 Internet Technology as Prior Art §12.07 Early Electronic Commerce
Technology as Prior Art
Chapter 13. Claiming Business Model and E-Commerce Inventions
§13.01 Legal Requirements §13.02 Claim Drafting Process §13.03 Finding the
Invention §13.04 Testing Claims for Proper Scope §13.05 Thinking Outside the
Box §13.06 Claim-Drafting Templates §13.07 Drafting Statutory Process Claims
§13.08 Article of Manufacture Claims §13.09 Internet Patent Claim Templates
§13.10 Some Specific Examples of Internet Patents §13.11 How the Patent Office
Construes Claims §13.12 How Courts Construe Issued Claims §13.13 Using
Means-Plus-Function Claims for Business Inventions §13.14 Use of
Means-Plus-Function Analysis to Bolster Specification
Chapter 14. Drawings For E-Commerce and Business Model Patents
§14.01 Drawings in a Patent Application §14.02 Legal Requirements for Drawings
§14.03 Practical Considerations Prior to Litigation §14.04 Flowcharts §14.05
Pseudocode §14.06 Entity-Relationship Diagram §14.07 Booch Notation §14.08 Use
of Object-Oriented Notation to Illustrate Business Systems §14.09 Data Flow
Diagram §14.10 Representing Data Structures §14.11 Patent Drawing Checklist
§14.12 Unified Modeling Language
Chapter 15. The Patent Specification
§15.01 Purpose of Specification §15.02 Statutory Requirements of Specification
§15.03 Regulations Governing Specification Content §15.04 Case Law on
Specification Content §15.05 Written Description Requirement §15.06 Enablement
Requirement §15.07 Best Mode Requirement §15.08 Form and Style of
Specification §15.09 Mechanics of Specification §15.10 Defining the E-Commerce
or Business Model Invention §15.11 Describing E-Commerce Invention §15.12
Describing the Business Model Invention §15.13 Using Means-Plus-Function
Analysis to Strengthen Specification §15.14 A Section 112 Checklist
Chapter 16. Litigating the Business Method Patent
§16.01 Jurisdiction Issues Involving Business Model and E-Commerce Patents
§16.02 Infringement and Territorial Issues Involving Internet Patents §16.03
The Special Defense to Business Method Infringement
Chapter 17. Exploiting the Business Method and E-Commerce Patent Portfolio
§17.01 Introduction §17.02 Developing Strategic Portfolios for the Future
§17.03 The Strategic Pyramid §17.04 Neutralizing a Competitor's Portfolio with
Business Model Patents §17.05 Service and Flow Economy §17.06 A Systematic
Approach to Portfolio Development §17.07 Portfolio Mapping Techniques
Chapter 18. International Protection for Business Methods
§18.01 How Business Method Patents Fare Throughout the World Today §18.02
European View of Business Method Patents—A Negative Reaction to State Street
Bank §18.03 EPO Actions §18.04 Japanese View of Business Method Patents—A
Positive Reaction to State Street Bank §18.05 Japanese Law
Appendix A— UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce
Appendix B — Proposed Bill - Business Method Patent Improvement Act of
2000 [never enacted]
Appendix C — copy of Bilski et al. Patent application that was the
subject of Bilski v. Kappos
Appendix D — copy of USPTO Director Kappos directive: Subject Matter
Eligibility of Computer Readable Media. Jan 26, 2010.
Table of Cases
Index
