Patent Ruling by Supremes
The April ruling by the Supreme Court in the KSR v Teleflex case has a major impact on the small business community. You need to be familiar. Many businesses and individuals have filed for and gotten patents recently which to the common observer seemed “obvious.” Whole businesses have been built on defending these patents. Often times the strategy was simply to shake another outfit down for the nuisance fee or just enough money to avoid the expense of a court fight.
Just because you see how some previously patented processes or items might fit together in a slightly different way doesn’t mean you have something original and patentable. The term of law is “Obviousness.” Though the Patent Offices has said that the KSR ruling will not impact their proceedings they have recently bounced 3 patent applications for obviousness and cited the Supreme Court ruling on KSR. For more details read the article in today’s Wall Street Journal by Peter Lattman.
Practically, the ruling will have an impact on those who want to patent business process. You better have something unique, significant and large to come out of the right side of the obviousness test. On the other hand, no one can shake you down for a patent on something simple. You may still have to defend yourself, but you are lest likely to pay out unnecessary nuisance fees.
Knowledge is power and money.
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POSTED IN: New Ideas, Starting Up
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