NASA Is Auctioning Off Five Software Patents
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is putting up for auction five software-related patents on Veteran's Day, November 11, 2010.
Continue Reading...
Patent Peer Review Program
The USPTO on Tuesday announced a second "Peer to Patent Pilot" program for peer review of patent applications to begin on Monday, October 25.
Under the pilot program, inventors can opt to have their patent applications posted on the www.peertopatent.org website. Volunteer scientific and technical experts then discuss the applications and submit prior art they think might be relevant to determining if an invention is new and non-obvious, as the law requires. After the review period, the prior art is sent to the USPTO patent examiners for their consideration during examination.
The Peer To Patent pilot is a collaboration with the USPTO and New York Law School, and is funded by GE, HP, IBM, Article One Partners, Microsoft, Open Invention Network, and Red Hat.
Amazon's One-Click Patent Is Patentable In Canada
The Federal Court of Canada ruled on Thursday that claims in Amazon's 1-click patent constitute patentable subject matter, thereby reversing the Commissioner of Patents' findings. The Commissioner argued that there is a business method exclusion in Canada, but the Court ruled that there is not.
According to the Court's ruling:
There is no exclusion for “business methods” which are otherwise patentable, nor is there a “technological” test in Canadian jurisprudence. Even if there was some
technological requirement, in this case the claims, when viewed as a whole, certainly disclose a technological invention.
The Canadian Court's ruling appears to be consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court's opinion in Bilski.
Apple Patent For Censoring Texting
Yesterday, the USPTO issued Apple's U.S. Patent No. 7,814,163 directed to a "Text-based communication control for personal communication device." The patent has one independent claim and 14 total claims.
Continue Reading...
