U.S. Software Patent Attorney & Computer-Based Business Method Patent Lawyer

About Software, Algorithms and Business Methods – To be patentable, the invention must fall within a class that US Patent Law considers statutory matter for patent protection. Software, as a set of written instructions, i.e., an algorithm, may be protected by US Copyright Laws. Algorithms, if nothing more than the execution of mathematical formulas, are not patentable. For patentability purposes, one may think of software as providing instructions for a physical computing device. The physical computing device thereafter functions effectively as a special computing device – depending of course on the software it has loaded and is executing. The processing system and/or system executing the steps as instructions are statutory subject matter and an article of conveyance, such as a CD-R on which the machine-readable instructions are burned, would also be statutory subject matter. If the execution of the steps produces a new and unexpected functional result (in light of all published relevant references), then claims directed to the method, e.g., a machine-implemented method, the machine/system executing the steps, and the article of conveyance containing the machine-readable instructions, may be patentable over such references.

 

Latest Legal Update: Following the Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International Supreme Court decision,the USPTO will now analyze all claims (product and process) having an abstract idea using the following two-part analysis:

Part 1:  Determine whether the claim is directed to an abstract idea
Part 2:  If an abstract idea is present in the claim, determine whether any element, or combination of elements, in the claim is sufficient to ensure that the claim amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea itself

Several nonexclusive limitations were given in Alice as limitations that may be enough to qualify as “significantly more”:

Improvements to another technology or technical field;
Improvements to the functioning of the computer itself;
Meaningful limitations beyond generally linking the use of an abstract idea to a particular technological environment.

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Previous Rulings: US Supreme Court in Bilski v. Kappos held that to determine whether a process is patent-eligible, one must review the method claimed in light of 35 USC §100(b), and the Court’s opinions inGottschalk v. BensonParker v. Flook, and Diamond v. Diehr. While the machine-or-transformation (MOT) test created the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit may be used as an evaluative tool in determining process patent eligibility, by this opinion of the Supreme Court, the MOT test is not the sole test for patent-eligibility of a process/method claim.

At Brooks Acordia IP Law, P.C., our software patent and business method patent lawyers assist domestic clients seeking patent prosecution in the United States, domestic clients seeking patent prosecution abroad, and international clients seeking software patent and business method patent prosecution in the U.S. We have extensive experience in U.S. Patent Office prosecution where algorithms are tied with technology such as computers and processing systems. We can assist clients with the preparation and prosecution of software patent applications and business method patent applications, including the following:

Computer-Controlled Sensor-Related Inventions– including patent applications for software-configured analyzers and/or controllers in electromagnetic and acoustical devices and systems, optical and imaging devices, and sensor systems and components

Radio Frequency (RF) Devices and Digital Signal Processing Inventions – including patent applications for devices and systems incorporating analog and/or digital system processing configured to executed software-based instructions, such as send/transmitting and receive/receiving systems, a patent application for software-configured subsystems as portions of remote control systems, and software-configured processing units in radio control systems or in radio control components

Navigation System Inventions – including complex algorithmic processing via software-configured processors of navigation systems such as GPS-based tracking or other navigational control systems or components,  and/or systems configured for stochastic estimation processing or the development of a new or different stochastic estimation processes, including land systems, airborne systems, and water systems

Network Devices and Office/Home Networking Inventions – including software patent applications drafted as software-configured processors in systems or equipment, hardware interfacing and data storing devices, changes or innovations to the 7 layer OSI model, gateways and portals, routers and switches, power line communication (similar to DSL) or audio and visual command systems or components, gaming technology and gaming industry software, hardware, and networking systems, and SMART home technology

We have the software engineering and business methods background and knowledge to provide you with the value-added service and advice you demand.