Business Methods – Patent Attorneys

If your business uses a new solution to a business problem, it may be entitled to patent protection.

Since 1998, business method patents, issued mainly to software and internet companies, have become a burgeoning area of patent law. Your company can protect its unique business methods by using this type of patent, and if you’re a start-up company, fully protecting your interests as early as possible will prevent losing profits and opportunities to your competitors.

Business method patents protect processes, generally implemented by computers, that are involved in operating a business or that define a product or service provided by a business. Examples of business method patents include:

• Financial patents – new types of financial instruments;
• General business – method for producing a message record for a telephone call;
• Electronic commerce – method of entering information required to complete an online purchase by a single mouse click;
• Sales method – a “reverse auction” method of purchasing airline tickets over the internet.

It’s imperative that a business method patent is filed within one year of public use or sale. Business method patents may actually grant a company a monopoly in a particular way of doing business or in a particular type of product or service for the term of the patent. If your company owns the patent, it can prevent others from using the same business method without first obtaining a license from your company.

At McNeely, Hare & War LLP in Washington, DC, we understand the importance of protecting your company’s business methods in this emerging area of law. A patent attorney experienced in the preparation and examination of business method patents can explain the guidelines for patent subject matter eligibility and the issues relating to the advantages of protecting your unique business method.