Eugene F. Derényi, Partner, Patent & Trade-mark Agent
Fogler, Rubinoff LLP
ederenyi@foglers.com
January 2012
In the last issue of IP Currents, we reported that the Federal Court of Appeal had ordered the Canadian Patent Office to re-examine, on an expedited basis, Amazon.com's Canadian patent application for its "one-click" internet shopping ordering method. The Patent Office had refused the application on the basis that it was directed to a business method that the Patent Office did not consider to be patentable subject matter. A series of appeals followed which culminated in the Federal Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold the patenting of business methods.
On December 23, 2011, within a month of the Court of Appeal decision, the Patent Office finally allowed Amazon.com’s patent application. The patent is expected to issue in January 2012. The patenting of business methods has been controversial in Canada and elsewhere because they are viewed by some as intangible ideas and schemes which, if patented, could force businesses to negotiate patent licenses simply to carry on business.
Eugene Derényi is a member of Fogler, Rubinoff’s Intellectual Property Group, which provides a full range of intellectual property legal services, including protecting, licensing and enforcing intellectual property.