Practice Areas

Software & Business Method Patents

U.S. Software Patent Attorney & Computer-Based Business Method Patent Lawyer

About Software, Algorithms and Business Methods - To be patentable, the invention must fall within a class that US Patent Law considers statutory matter for patent protection. Software, as a set of written instructions, i.e., an algorithm, may be protected by US Copyright Laws. Algorithms, if nothing more than the execution of mathematical formulas, are not patentable. For patentability purposes, one may think of software as providing instructions for a physical computing device. The physical computing device thereafter functions effectively as a special computing device - depending of course on the software it has loaded and is executing. The processing system and/or system executing the steps as instructions are statutory subject matter and an article of conveyance, such as a CD-R on which the machine-readable instructions are burned, would also be statutory subject matter. If the execution of the steps produces a new and unexpected functional result (in light of all published relevant references), then claims directed to the method, e.g., a machine-implemented method, the machine/system executing the steps, and the article of conveyance containing the machine-readable instructions, may be patentable over such references.

Legal Update: US Supreme Court in Bilski v. Kappos held that to determine whether a process is patent-eligible, one must review the method claimed in light of 35 USC §100(b), and the Court's opinions in Gottschalk v. Benson, Parker v. Flook, and Diamond v. Diehr. While the machine-or-transformation (MOT) test created the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit may be used as an evaluative tool in determining process patent eligibility, by this opinion of the Supreme Court, the MOT test is not the sole test for patent-eligibility of a process/method claim.

Presumably, the USPTO interim patent subject matter eligibility examination instructions issued on August 24, 2009 will be revised based on the US Supreme Court's opinion in Bilski v. Kappos.

At the Law Office of Michael Blaine Brooks, P.C., our software patent and business method patent lawyers assist domestic clients seeking patent prosecution in the United States, domestic clients seeking patent prosecution abroad, and international clients seeking software patent and business method patent prosecution in the U.S. We have extensive experience in U.S. Patent Office prosecution where algorithms are tied with technology such as computers and processing systems. We can assist clients with the preparation and prosecution of software patent applications and business method patent applications, including the following:

Computer-Controlled Sensor-Related Inventions- including patent applications for software-configured analyzers and/or controllers in electromagnetic and acoustical devices and systems, optical and imaging devices, and sensor systems and components

Radio Frequency (RF) Devices and Digital Signal Processing Inventions - including patent applications for devices and systems incorporating analog and/or digital system processing configured to executed software-based instructions, such as send/transmitting and receive/receiving systems, a patent application for software-configured subsystems as portions of remote control systems, and software-configured processing units in radio control systems or in radio control components

Navigation System Inventions - including complex algorithmic processing via software-configured processors of navigation systems such as GPS-based tracking or other navigational control systems or components,  and/or systems configured for stochastic estimation processing or the development of a new or different stochastic estimation processes, including land systems, airborne systems, and water systems

Network Devices and Office/Home Networking Inventions - including software patent applications drafted as software-configured processors in systems or equipment, hardware interfacing and data storing devices, changes or innovations to the 7 layer OSI model, gateways and portals, routers and switches, power line communication (similar to DSL) or audio and visual command systems or components, gaming technology and gaming industry software, hardware, and networking systems, and SMART home technology

We have the software engineering and business methods background and knowledge to provide you with the value-added service and advice you demand.  Contact our California software patent attorney or business methods patent lawyer to schedule a confidential consultation or call Toll Free: 1-866-LAW-PAT1 (529-7281). Discover how we earned our  reputation for excellence.

US REGISTERED PATENT ATTORNEYS

Patent attorney Dr. Michael Brooks and patent attorney Rosemarie Jones assist clients internationally (Canada, Europe & Asia), domestically (United States, from California to Washington, D.C.), and locally (California, including the cities of: Simi Valley, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Thousand Oaks, Woodland Hills, San Fernando Valley, Irvine, Newport Beach and the counties of Los Angeles County, Ventura County, Orange County, San Diego County, as well as throughout the Tech Forest of the Pacific Northwest, including Vancouver and Camas, Washington, and Portland, Oregon) with a variety of patent issues, including: utility patent prosecution, pre-patent services, patent infringement issues, and patent litigation support. If you need a patent lawyer, you need us.