Real issue with Amazon's 1-Click patent is business method patentability, not prior art

Kevin Osborne is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School and is taking the Patent Law course. Earlier this month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) confirmed Amazon.com's controversial 1-Click patent (PDF) following a re-examination of newly-submitted prior art (via TechFlash).  This re-examination sheds light on the difference between the novelty and obviousness […]

IP and its crucial role in start-ups

Virgil Cojocaru is a JD candidate at Osgoode Hall Law School. These days governments are funding private sector enterprises. The public purse is increasingly used to aid businesses. However, many questions remain about the effectiveness of such a strategy. Josh Lerner, in his book, Boulevard of Broken Dreams: Why Public Efforts to Boost Entrepreneurship and […]

Digital Books for Patent Prosecution?

Although copyright issues have consumed the spotlight when it comes to Google Books, a recent thread has suggested that this feature may be of great use when it comes to patent prosecution. More specifically, the suggestion has been that Google Books has potential to become useful for prior art searching undertaken during preparation of a patent […]

Patent Office Finds Voice, Calls for Software Patent Sanity

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, […]

Are Business Methods Patentable?

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: […]

All about money…

What first strikes me is how a patent could have been issued as it does not seem to be an invention to clear checks, yes, previously done manually and then started electronically. As we know, for a patent to be issued it has to be new. I mean, how did they get a patent for […]

Clearing The Cheque Before The Patent

I recently discovered that my bank (which will remain anonymous) had been charging me four times as much interest as per our agreement for upwards of a year. Eventually all the money I had erroneously forked out was returned to me, but I was forced to bring the matter to their attention on more than […]