Patent Trademark Office 1

Since the flood of applications to the Patent Office, various online companies have applied for and been granted patents on a wide variety of methods, many of those involving Internet shopping or Web commerce advertising.

In order to qualify for a business method patent there are various criteria that must be met. First of all, a business method patent is granted for a method or type of business software that is practical in its purpose. This is a criterion which is common for granting of all patents.

Another criterion is that the business method must not be obvious. The Patent Office will not approve applications for methods that they have deemed to be entirely obvious. It is easy to

prove that a method is practical, but a little harder to prove it is not obvious.

A third criterion a business method patent must fulfill is that it should be something that is worth patenting. The Patent and Trademark Office will not just approve almost anything that comes through their office, but will scrutinize the applications to make sure they are worthy of being patented. This is the most subjective of the criteria that are applied, but it is not generally difficult to demonstrate that an idea is worthwhile, if it actually is.

Lastly, the method to be patented should be something that is new to the industry. The Patent Office will not patent anything that has been in use

for a long time. The method or software must have been in use no more than one prior to the date of the patent application.

Like the other patent applications, the costs of the business method patent can vary from $2,000 to $10,000 or more depending on the costs of the patent lawyer s fees (if you use one). Since the business method patent is a form of a utility patent, the patent owner must pay maintenance fees for the patent. These fees are approximately three times the application fee, spread over the course of the life of the patent. Usually the business method patent is valid for an average of twenty years. However, with the popularity of this type

of patent, expect at least a two to three years wait before the patent is approved.

Make sure you consider a business method patent if you have unique business methods.

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