THE wave of absurdly obvious patents on business methods that has engulfed
the US looks like washing up on Europe’s shores.
European ministers meet in Munich next week to ratify a plan that would allow
the European Patent Office to grant patents on software that could implement
common-sense ways of working. The move could mean that European businesses could
be sued for using established practices that have been newly
patented—often in the guise of computerised schemes that lend themselves
to e-commerce.
Since a court case in July 1998 ruled in favour of patenting business
methods, the US has been allowing such filings—but the move has left the
US Patent and Trademark Office mired in controversy. It now allows patents on
anything tangible and useful. Among the controversial patents it has granted is
one that embodies the idea of undercutting a competitor by checking their prices
on the Internet. Others include teaching music via a computer, computerising
litigation, and even drafting patents on a computer. The bête noire is
amazon.com’s patent on one-click purchasing
(91av, 8 April, p14).
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Because business practices were not patentable before 1998, the USPTO has no
hard evidence that any particular way of working was in use before then.
Britain is arguing against bringing European patent law into line with that
of the US. “If these new laws come into being, we’re fully expecting to see a
patent filed for football strategy,” warns an incredulous Patent Office
official. “Then people will really see what these new laws mean.” Observers fear
that such patents could be granted if, say, a coach devised software to help
with training.
In September, patent experts from the 19 states that run the EPO voted to
allow patents in “all fields of technology”, including software. Although
Britain, France and Germany voted against the change, they were defeated by 10
votes to 9. That decision is due to be confirmed by the ministers meeting next
week.
The European Commission in Brussels has published a consultation document on
whether Europe should allow patents on business processes. But bizarrely, the
consultation period runs until 15 December—by which time the EPO expects
to have changed the rules anyway.
The outlook remains worrying. In San Francisco, Greg Aharonian searches out
old documents not found by the USPTO examiners, and uses them to invalidate new
patents. But he has now been sued for alleged infringement of a patent on
remotely querying a database—a patent he has been trying to bust.
