Innovate or Perish: Managing the Enduring Technology Company in the Global Market

The Doomsday Scenario if Nontechnology Patents Are Not Reined In

The encroachment of business methods, marketing, and nontechnology innovations into the long-established sphere of patent-eligible subject matter is fraught with practical concerns and troublesome to many. Experts believe there are many potentially adverse ramifications, and that Congress, if not the courts, needs to better define and arrest this intrusion. Some of the arguments include:

• Insurmountable difficulties of the USPTO in examining business methods and nontechnical inventions, including lack of examiners skilled in nontechnical arts such as insurance or human resources and the lack of appropriate databases as prior art.

• Unacceptably poor quality of patents granted on business methods, especially in nontechnical fields, which will render highly uncertain the validity and infringement of such patents.

• Huge backlogs of unexamined applications and delays in granting patents that are unacceptable for businesses and ventures because the USPTO is already faced with a deficiency of resources.

• A flood of unwarranted litigation and harassment of legitimate operating enterprises by “trolls” seeking to make a quick buck on hastily constructed patents of doubtful validity, causing a significant drain on business productivity.

• The patent bar will be opened up to nontechnical personnel contrary to USPTO rules.

• A further canyon of disharmony will be opened up between U.S. business methods and nontechnical patents and patents ...