A patent protects a product, process, invention, a 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). In Dynamic Business Law: The essentials. essay, McGraw-Hill
Education.
