Getting the right type of patent and understanding its full implications is a first step in protecting your intellectual property. After all, you want the patent that will give you the protection you need without wasting resources on the wrong paperwork. To that end, here is one of the less known options.
What They Are
Utility patents are the most common type of patents, and business methods are a type of utility patent. They patent what you would expect them to: methods or processes. They are particularly useful to software companies, and are sometimes known as internet patents. These last for 20 years, during which time you can license the process to other companies for a fee or use the right to block others from using it entirely.
When You Get One
Making a new way of doing things is exciting, but not always worthy of a patent. In order to count, your method must produce a result that people can detect (no claiming that your software creates invisible and immaterial fairies, for instance.) The process can’t be an abstract idea, and it has to be new, do something useful, and not something anyone with a background in the relevant area would figure out without much thought. An example is a content filtering system that kept content from being retrieved from an internet computer network by individual accounts, which was under question in a 2016 case between Bascom Global Internet Services and AT&T Mobility LLC.
Your process can be the same as anything that was published or described somewhere public more than a year before you applied for your patent.
You have to be very certain that you were the first one with the process, though, and that it is good enough to pay extra.
Things To Consider
This is because business method patents have more chances to be challenged. The America Invents Act of 2011 allows people to challenge your patent within the first 9 months after the patent is granted. The challenge to the patent in the first 9 months can be based on the idea that at least one claim of your application doesn’t qualify as patentable, or raises a novel legal question. In addition, any company that can prove that it has been using the method publicly at least a year before you got your patent can invalidate your patent, and a company that used it confidentially before you invented it can continue using it without worrying about infringing your patents. For about 8 years, the USPTO can review any business method patent that doesn’t cover a technological invention.
There is also a longer period between application and getting the patent, about 2 or 3 years, and people can use your process during that time.
Other Concerns
Business method patents come with maintenance fees that are due after three and a half years, seven and a half years, and eleven and a half years. These fees get paid to the USPTO. This fee is set by their director and can change by year, but you can get a discount if you are a tiny company.
Beyond this, business method patents are filed in the same way that any other utility patent is done. The right form has to be filed, and an accurate description of your process will have to be included. You will need to explain how the process is used and how it would benefit people. All of this needs to be done with utmost clarity, and even then your examiner may want you to amend your claims.
The need for the right verbiage is particularly acute with business method patents because of how they can be challenged. They can also be lucrative if they are done right. When you want help with all the paperwork and understanding all the details of patent law, Larson & Larson will be glad to bring their expertise to you. Contact us for more information.