The patent appeal board in Canada recently rejected amazon.com’s patent application covering a business method

THEPATENTAPPEALBOARDINCANADARECENTLYREJECTED
AMAZON.COM’SPATENTAPPLICATIONCOVERINGABUSINESSMETHOD.

ADAMMIZERA*
LEGERROBICRICHARD,
L.L.P.
L
AWYERS,PATENTANDTRADE-MARKSAGENTS

TheUnitedStatesequivalentofthisapplicationisUSpatent5,960,411grantedto
Amazon.comin1999forthebusinessmethodassociatedwith“1-click”on-line
ordering.Alicenseforthispatenthadbeengrantedto,amongothers,Appleforthe
iTuneandiPhotoservices.
ThePatentAppealBoard’srulingisverydetailedonthepatentabilityofbusiness
methodsingeneral.Thestep-by-stepanalysisundertakenbytheBoardto
determineifabusinessmethodispatentableornotispresentedasfollows:
a)Considerboththeformandsubstanceoftheclaims.
The“form”ofaclaimreferstoitswording(whichisthetextdefining
thescopeoftheinventioninapatentapplication).The“substance”
oftheclaimreferstoanunderstandingofthenatureofthe
inventionclaimedandadeterminationofwhathasbeenaddedto
humanknowledge.

b)Determineiftheinvention’ssubjectmattersatisfiesthedefinitionof
oneofthepatentcategories:art,process,machine,manufactureor
compositionofmatter.

c)Determineiftheinventionproducesachangeincharacteror
condition.
Underthiscriterion,itmustbedeterminediftheinventionproduces
achangeofcharacterorconditioninaphysicalobject.

d)Determineifthesubjectmatteroftheinventionisexcludedbythe
PatentAct(“Act”).
SomeinventionscannotbepatentedundertheAct,including
methodsofcalculating,methodsofmedicaltreatments,higherlife
forms,businessmanagementmethodsorsystemsand
professionalskillsormethods.

©CIPS,2009.
*WithLEGERROBICRICHARD,LLP.amultidisciplinaryfirmofLawyers,andPatentandTrade-mark
Agents.PublishedintheSummer2009Newsletterofthefirm(Vol.13,No.2).Publication068.106E

2
e)Determineiftheinvention’ssubjectmatterisnon-technologicaland
hence,notcoveredbytheAct.
TheAppealBoardmentionsthateachofthefive(5)categoriesof
inventionsessentiallyrelatestosubjectmatterofatechnological
nature.Subjectmatterthatisnottechnologicalcannotfitinanyofthe
inventioncategories.
TheBoardthenappliedthesecriteriatoconcludethatAmazon.com’spatent
applicationwasnot“art”assuchtermisdefinedintheActandhence,itdidnot
constituteasubjectmattercoveredbyit.Infact,theBoarddeterminedthatthe
inventiondidnotconstituteanactionoraseriesofactionsperformedbyaphysical
agentuponsomephysicalobjectandthatproducedinthatobjectachangeof
characterorcondition.
Therefore,itseemsthattheBoardisfollowingthereasoningrecentlyadoptedby
AmericancourtsinInreBilski,arulinginwhichasimilarmachineortransformation
testwasestablishedtodeterminethepatentabilityofabusinessmethod.

Concurrentlywiththisdecision,thePatentOfficehaspublishedforconsultation
(untilthemonthofAugust2009)anewversionofchapter12oftheExaminers’
PracticesManualandtheissueofpatentabilityofbusinessmethodshasbeen
deletedfromthedraft.Meanwhile,itseemsthattheapproachfollowedbythe
AppealBoard,withthestep-by-stepanalysispresentedabove,canbefoundinthe
draftofthisnewversionofthechapterdealingwiththesubjectmatterofinventions.
ItwillbeinterestingtoseeifAmazon.comwillappealthisruling,itsdeadlinetodo
soexpiresinSeptember2009.

ROBIC,ungrouped’avocatsetd’agentsdebrevetsetdemarquesdecommercevouédepuis1892à
laprotectionetàlavalorisationdelapropriétéintellectuelledanstouslesdomaines:brevets,dessins
industrielsetmodèlesutilitaires;marquesdecommerce,marquesdecertificationetappellations
d’origine;droitsd’auteur,propriétélittéraireetartistique,droitsvoisinsetdel’artisteinterprète;
informatique,logicielsetcircuitsintégrés;biotechnologies,pharmaceutiquesetobtentionsvégétales;
secretsdecommerce,know-howetconcurrence;licences,franchisesettransfertsdetechnologies;
commerceélectronique,distributionetdroitdesaffaires;marquage,publicitéetétiquetage;poursuite,
litigeetarbitrage;vérificationdiligenteetaudit.ROBIC,agroupoflawyersandofpatentand
trademarkagentsdedicatedsince1892totheprotectionandthevalorizationofallfieldsofintellectual
property:patents,industrialdesignsandutilitypatents;trademarks,certificationmarksandindications
oforigin;copyrightandentertainmentlaw,artistsandperformers,neighbouringrights;computer,
softwareandintegratedcircuits;biotechnologies,pharmaceuticalsandplantbreeders;tradesecrets,
know-how,competitionandanti-trust;licensing,franchisingandtechnologytransfers;e-commerce,
distributionandbusinesslaw;marketing,publicityandlabelling;prosecutionlitigationandarbitration;
duediligence.
COPYRIGHTER
IDEASLIVEHERE

3
ILATOUTDEMÊMEFALLUL’INVENTER!
LAMAÎTRISEDESINTANGIBLES
LEGERROBICRICHARD
NOSFENÊTRESGRANDESOUVERTESSURLEMONDEDESAFFAIRES
PATENTER
R
ROBIC
ROBIC+DROIT+AFFAIRES+SCIENCES+ARTS
ROBIC++++
ROBIC+LAW+BUSINESS+SCIENCE+ART
THETRADEMARKERGROUP
TRADEMARKER
VOSIDÉESÀLAPORTÉEDUMONDE,DESAFFAIRESÀLAGRANDEURDELAPLANÈTE
YOURBUSINESSISTHEWORLDOFIDEAS;OURBUSINESSBRINGSYOURIDEASTOTHE
WORLD
Trade-marksofLEGERROBICRICHARD,
LLP(“ROBIC”)