subject: How To Apply For Patent For Computer Software [print this page] For inventions to be registered as a patent, the patent law looks for the following factors first.
1. The process is a method or procedure which is created with the goal of achieving tangible results.
2. A machine will be a unit or other things that are made or designed, and not something natural.
3. The article of manufacture is created through a developed process.
4. The composition of matter is generated through merging various elements.
Computer software is distinct as a set of directives which are run on a computer in order to achieve a particular result. Thus, the kind of patent being required is a process patent - or formally identified as a business method patent.
This is how the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) decide which software is qualified for patent application. If you see your invention meets the above legal matters, then you can file for a patent registration as long as the invention is new, non-obvious and useful.
Similarly, if the invention is for-sale in the U.S. before the filing date, this also prevents obtaining a patent. Conducting a research on patents and patent applications published is called a patent novelty search or a prior art search because its' goal is to look for publications identical or very similar to an invention. If there are no results which match an invention then, it can be considered as possible new invention.
Moreover, if your invention is available for sale prior to your application date, this also hinders you from achieve patent. Such circumstances are regarded as "prior art". Searching for existing patent and published applications is termed as patent novelty search or prior art which aims to find prior art publications which are strongly comparable to your invention. During this process, if such things are not found, your invention is considered as potentially new or "novel."
To provide computer software for business method patents, the software cannot be classified as an algorithm, which does not take more than the instructions on a computer. This is a vital step for software patent.
A Supreme Court decision opened the door to business method software patents which stated that, although computer programs certainly commands the computers internally, a legitimate business method patent, must achieve some result besides being just an internal algorithm. Thus, in order to obtain a patent, the software instructions must obtain effect outside the computer as well.
