Patentability of management software for fleet of vehicles

PATENTABILITYOFMANAGEMENTSOFTWAREFORFLEETOFV
EHICLES

ADAMMIZERA*
ROBIC,
LLP
L
AWYERS,PATENTANDTRADE-MARKSAGENTS

ThePatentAppealBoardinCanadarecentlyrejectedapatentapplicationfiledby
U-HaulInternationalInc.relatedtovehiclefleetmanagementsoftware.Thisdecision
appliesprinciplesestablishedintheAmazon.comcasethatwasreportedinoneof
ourpreviousnewslettersin2009.
Thepatentapplicationrelatestoaprocessandsystemforfollowingtherepairand
generalstatusofvehiclesinacoordinatedmannerfromseveralvehiclecenters
spreadoutgeographically.
TheExaminerresponsiblefortheapplicationhadrejectedtheapplicationbystating
thatitwasindefiniteandobviousandthattheapplicationclaimednon-patentable
subjectmatter.AccordingtotheCanadianPatentAct,thepresentarticlewill
concentrateonthequestionofpatentablesubjectmatter.

InitsdecisioninvolvingtheU-Haulpatentapplication,thePatentAppealBoard
(“Board”)reiteratedthat,foraclaimtobepatentable,theformoftheclaimmustbe
relatedtooneofthefivecategoriesofpatentableinventions:art,process,machine,
manufactureoracompositionofmatter.Moreover,theBoardmaintainedthatthe
formoftheclaimmustnotberelatedtoanexcludedobject,nortoanynon-
technologicalmatter.TheBoardalsoreiteratedthatthesubstanceoftheclaimed
inventionor”whathasbeenaddedtohumanknowledge”,mustberelatedtooneof
thefiveabove-mentionedcategoriesofpatentableinventions.Furthermore,the
additiontohumanknowledgemustnotberelatedtoanexcludedobject,nortoany
non-technologicalsubjectmatter.TheBoardrecognizesthatthesethreecriteria,the
categoriesofinventions,excludedobjectsandnon-technologicalsubjectmatter,
maysometimesoverlapwhilenotcoincidingexactly.TheBoardgivestheexample
ofageneticallymodifiedhigherlifeformwhichmaybetechnologicalinnaturebut
neverthelessdoesnotrepresentpatentablesubjectmatter.

©CIPS,2010.*WithROBIC,LLPamultidisciplinaryfirmofLawyers,andPatentandTrade-markAgents.Published
intheSpring2010Newsletterofthefirm(Vol.14,No.1).Publication068.119E.

2
TheBoardthendefinedwhatmayconstituteatechnicaleffectwhentheclaimofthe
patentinvolvessoftware.TheBoardcitedtheBritishdecisioninAT&TKnowledge
VenturesLP,(2009)EWHC343(Pat)whichgivesexamplesoftechnicaleffects:
i)thetechnicaleffecthasaneffectonaprocesswhichiscarriedout
outsidethecomputer;
ii)ii)thetechnicaleffectoperatesatthelevelofthearchitectureofthe
computer;
iii)thetechnicaleffectresultsinthecomputeroperatinginanewway;
iv)thetechnicaleffectincreasesthespeedorreliabilityofthecomputer;
v)thetechnicaleffectovercomesaperceivedproblemanddoesnot
merelycircumventtheproblem.

TheBoardalsoclarifiedthefactthatalthoughtheAmazon.comcasedeclares
thatbusinessmethodsarenotpatentable,processesandmachinesdonot
necessarilyloosetherighttobecomepatentablebythesimplefactthatthey
havebeenconceivedtobeusedincertaincommercialactivities.

Followingitsanalysis,theBoardconcludedthatthecontributiontohuman
knowledgestemmingfromU-Haul’sinventionconsistedofacombinationofthe
followingoperations:automaticgenerationofforcecastavailabilityofvehicles
undermaintenance,thetransmissionanddiffusionofthisforecasttoanetwork,
thusprovidingtotheuserabettermanagementofafleetofvehicles.

TheBoardconcludedthatthesubstanceoftheinventionwasnottechnological
innature.Moreover,byanalyzingtheadvantagesprovidedbytheinventionin
termsoftechnicaleffectasdefinedintheAT&TKnowledgeVenturescase,the
Boardconcludedthattheinventionrepresentedapurelyadministrativeprocess
designedtoprocessandproduceinformationsandwasthereforesolelyrelated
totheorganizationofhumanactivities.Therefore,thesubstanceoftheinvention
wasexcludedsubjectmatterbecauseitrelatedtocommercialactivity.

TheBoard’spositionwillbeinterestingtoanalyseinviewoftheupcoming
decisionfromtheUSSupremeCourtintheInreBilskicasewhichwillevaluate
thepatentabilityofbusinessmethodsintheUnitedStates.

Inparallel,theAmazon.comdecisionwhichprovidedseveralelementsfor
analysisusedinthepresentdecisionhasbeenappealedtotheFederalCourtof
Canada.ItwillbeinterestingtoconfirmwhethertheFederalCourtwillusethe
additionalanalysiselementscitedbythePatentAppealBoardinthepresent
caseinordertodeterminewhethertheinventionrepresentspatentablesubject
matteraccordingtothePatentAct.

3

ROBIC,ungrouped’avocatsetd’agentsdebrevetsetdemarquesdecommerce
vouédepuis1892àlaprotectionetàlavalorisationdelapropriétéintellectuelle
danstouslesdomaines:brevets,dessinsindustrielsetmodèlesutilitaires;marques
decommerce,marquesdecertificationetappellationsd’origine;droitsd’auteur,
propriétélittéraireetartistique,droitsvoisinsetdel’artisteinterprète;informatique,
logicielsetcircuitsintégrés;biotechnologies,pharmaceutiquesetobtentions
végétales;secretsdecommerce,know-howetconcurrence;licences,franchiseset
transfertsdetechnologies;commerceélectronique,distributionetdroitdesaffaires;
marquage,publicitéetétiquetage;poursuite,litigeetarbitrage;vérificationdiligente
etaudit.ROBIC,agroupoflawyersandofpatentandtrademarkagentsdedicated
since1892totheprotectionandthevalorizationofallfieldsofintellectualproperty:
patents,industrialdesignsandutilitypatents;trademarks,certificationmarksand
indicationsoforigin;copyrightandentertainmentlaw,artistsandperformers,
neighbouringrights;computer,softwareandintegratedcircuits;biotechnologies,
pharmaceuticalsandplantbreeders;tradesecrets,know-how,competitionandanti-
trust;licensing,franchisingandtechnologytransfers;e-commerce,distributionand
businesslaw;marketing,publicityandlabelling;prosecutionlitigationandarbitration;
duediligence.
COPYRIGHTER
IDEASLIVEHERE
ILATOUTDEMÊMEFALLUL’INVENTER!
LAMAÎTRISEDESINTANGIBLES
LEGERROBICRICHARD
NOSFENÊTRESGRANDESOUVERTESSURLEMONDEDESAFFAIRES
PATENTER
R
ROBIC
ROBIC+DROIT+AFFAIRES+SCIENCES+ARTS
ROBIC++++
ROBIC+LAW+BUSINESS+SCIENCE+ART
THETRADEMARKERGROUP
TRADEMARKER
VOSIDÉESÀLAPORTÉEDUMONDE,DESAFFAIRESÀLAGRANDEURDE
LAPLANÈTE
YOURBUSINESSISTHEWORLDOFIDEAS;OURBUSINESSBRINGSYOUR
IDEASTOTHEWORLD
Trade-marksofROBIC,
LLP(“ROBIC”)

4