Legal update Patenting database marketing software

Business Methods and Software Patenting

Naturally occurring items such as plants or minerals are, in general, ineligible for utility patent protection because they are viewed as belonging in the public domain. There is a dichotomy between those items that are naturally occurring, and consequently unpatentable, and those items that are not found in nature, which are patentable. Portions of items found in nature are eligible for patent...

Strategic Patenting and Software Innovation

Strategic patenting is widely believed to raise the costs of innovating, especially in industries characterised by cumulative innovation. This paper studies the effects of strategic patenting on R&D, patenting and market value in the computer software industry. We focus on two key aspects: patent portfolio size which affects bargaining power in patent disputes, and the fragmentation of patent r...

Chemical Engineering Software and Legal Protection Thereof

In recent years, an increasing number of Chemical Engineering Software (CES), which play an important role in improving efficiency in the petroleum industry, has been introduced to the                market. Generally, software is the product of intellectual creativity, but protection of the intellectual property residing in software is the subject of some controversy.  This paper explores the ...

Marketing before patenting: implications for price controls in Canada

The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) regulates the introductory price of new patented medications in Canada. Some drugs are marketed before they are patented and are therefore outside the authority of the PMPRB. This study was undertaken to determine how many drugs fall into this category, the time period between marketing and patenting, and the excess revenue, if any, earned befor...

Ethics of Gene Patenting: Moral, Legal, and Practical Perspectives