A patent protects a product, process, invention, machine or plant produced
by asexual reproduction. There are four requirements in order for a patent to
be issued. It has to be patentable, new, useful and provide a purpose to
society. It also has to take some thought to create it. It cannot be an obvious
thing, process, etc. that would be thought of by a regular person. The only
way someone can utilize an idea, process, object, etc that is patented is to get
a license from the patent owner for it. In this case, although the judge ruled
that it was a violation of the patent, it became irrelevant because the judge
also ruled the patent was invalid. Realistically most companies that utilize
online sales have some sort of similar process that the plaintiff patented. This
does seem to be in the early 2000s which may have been before a lot of
competition, but it really is a simple, common idea. It truly lacked it's ability
to be nonobvious and that makes it non patentable. I definitely agree with the
judge's decision in this case and I also was impressed to hear the judge note
that it would violate the patent if the patent was issued for a patentable idea.
She could have left that out but did address that it did not matter whether the
defendant was aware of the patent or not. In turn, it could leave a positive
impression on those hearing that to really do their research before creating
new ideas.
References
Kubasek, N. K., Browne, M. N., Herron, D. J., Dhooge, L. J., & Barkacs, L.
L. (2021). InDynamic Business Law: The essentials. essay, McGraw-Hill
Education.
