Patents: Invention and Method

Invention as a combinatorial process: evidence from US patents

Invention has been commonly conceptualized as a search over a space of combinatorial possibilities. Despite the existence of a rich literature, spanning a variety of disciplines, elaborating on the recombinant nature of invention, we lack a formal and quantitative characterization of the combinatorial process underpinning inventive activity. Here, we use US patent records dating from 1790 to 20...

Software and Business Method Patents

Success in technology transfer Registrations of invention and patents help strengthen the know - how

Besides the research results achieved it is the registrations of inventions and patents granted that are an important gauge of the competency of our institute. Also in the year 2004 IFW was able to continue its successful activities in this field. As at 31 December 2004 the institute can boast of a total of 135 patents registered within Germany and 109 patents granted abroad. In the year 2004 a...

Patents for invention: setting the stage for the British industrial revolution?

The importance of patents for economic development in general and forBritish industrialization in particular remains an unresolved issue, but one thatduring the past twenty-five years has benefited from intensive historical re-search. This paper re-examines the debate in the light both of that research andof revisionist histories of the British industrial revolution. It focuses ...

The International Law of Business Method Patents

ideas such as mathematical algorithms have historically been deemed nonstatutory (Diamond v. Chakrabavty, 447 U.S. 303 [1980]). Second, the claimed invention must be novel. Novelty has a highly technical meaning, which is articulated in the complex provisions of Section 102 of the Patent Act. For example, under Section 102(a), the patent will be denied if the invention was known or used by othe...