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  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2007
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    Question Is the Functionality of a Website Patentable

    Hi,

    I was just wondering, can the functionality of a website or a website idea be patentable if there is no other website that has this same functionality on the web?

    Thank you,

    olimits7

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Functionality of a Website - Patentable

    Generally no.

    There are business method patents, but they are extremely challenging and expensive to obtain and even more expensive to enforce. The courts are looking upon business method patents with increasing disfavor and Congress is considering putting an end to them.

    However not even those patents would apply to mear functionality of a website. It takes more than that.

    So do you have 50k or so to get the patent and another bundle to try to protect and enforce it?

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Is the Functionality of a Website Patentable

    It would depend on the functionality. Amazon has successfully obtained and defended its patent for "one click" shopping. But most website functions aren't going to rise to the level that it's worth the time and cost of obtaining a patent, even assuming they're patentable (and most won't be).

  4. #4

    Talking Re: Is the Functionality of a Website Patentable

    Answers:

    Is a web page related idea considered as subject matter that is eligible for patent protection? Generally, yes.

    Is my web page related idea patentable? Depends mostly on how similar it is to the closest prior art.

    Lets say that my idea is to make a web page devoted entirely to kiwi fruits. Even if it has never been done, it will not be patentable because it is similar to many websites that are devoted to various things. The patent examiner will find a chocolate lovers website and reject my application and the rejection will stick.

    Now lets say that my idea is that a city sets up a website and allows users to enter their car trips before they take them, and the advantage to the user is that the city will control the traffic lights along the route more favorably to that user as a "reward" for entering the planned car trip. That might well be patentable. Although I have seen websites that offer rewards, I have never seen an incentive in the form of more favorable traffic light control. That one might be patentable. Depends if there is close prior art out there that I don't yet know about.

    The point is, your big concern vis-a-vis patentability should be how creative your idea is. If it seems a bit nuts at first, then that is probably a good thing. Your idea should scream, "wow that is really different -- never heard anything like that!" A lot of people spend a lot of time and money (that is, patent lawyer time) trying to patent ideas that are not really all that creative. Sometimes they succeed, and sometimes they fail. You should get all hung up on the category that your subject matter fits in. That is the least of your worries. Your bigger concerns are as follows: (i) will people be doing my idea (eg, my product, my method) ten years from now; (ii) how different is my idea from everything else in the whole world; and (iii) how will I find the money to pay to get a decent patent application written up.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2007
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    21

    Default Re: Is the Functionality of a Website Patentable

    Thanks for all the replies; they were very helpful...

    I did a couple searches on "Google Patents" and I found a lot of patents issued on website practices/functionality.

    However, this made me think; even if there is a patent issued on my "creative website idea" and I go ahead and create a similar site the patent owner probably won't sue unless it's worth it. If the site isn't successfull why would he waste his money on a lawsuit if there will be no financial upside for the patent owner.

    Just like in the case of Mercexchange vs. Ebay, a lawsuit was finally issued after Ebay was very successful and they ended up settling out of court for an undisclosed amount.

    Thank you,

    olimits7

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Is the Functionality of a Website Patentable

    Generally there has to be lots of money involved for someone to go to the trouble of a patent infringement action.

    Also business process and method patents are generally weak and an informed and represented defendant can many times invalidate them based on prior art or problems with the claim construction.

    Thus, there has to be a lot of money to risk the whole invalidation thing. Most of these patents are used to intimidate completition and often that is all they are good for.

    However, patents issued to really big companies are generally done right and they can keep you tied up in court until all of your resources are gone and you have no choice but to settle.

    Trying to get a website functionality patent (assuming it is not already patented) is going to likely cost you in excess of 10k. Trying to enforce it is 100k a pop minimum.

    All this is in federal court. To give you an example, I had a little battle with Ameritech once over a domain name. It was not a trademark infringment but they sued my corporation that owned it. This was just paperwork back and forth, there was never a single court appearance. Ameritech had legal expenses of $65,000. Their lawyers didn't do their job, the corporation had been dissolved, so they couldn't get an attorney fee award. Me, I just spent some time on it. Most IP cases are going to be well over 100k.

    So I would guess your thread is merely an academic exercise.

  7. #7

    Default Re: Is the Functionality of a Website Patentable

    A patent costs ten or twenty thousand dollars to get and maintain. An individual can conceivably make that kind of investment. A patent costs multi-millions of dollars to enforce in court. An individual generally cannot do that. For the individual inventor the idea is to sell or license her application/patent to a bigger company with the resources to use it to enough advantage that would justify the costs of enforcement.

    Here is an idealized timeline:

    1. Time zero: inventor thinks of idea so radical that: (i) no one else gas thought about it; and (ii) even if inventor told rich investors about the idea (which she shouldn't do until her application is filed) they would not invest in it because the idea is so radical that it would blow their minds.

    2. Year one: application is filed. Applicant is trying to sell application to investors, but the idea is still considered so radical that minds are blown so the inventor is constantly cleaning bits of mind off the walls of her conference room. She feels lonely because only her patent attorney seems to share her enthusiasm at this point, but she cannot afford too much of her patent attorney's time.

    3. years two to three: same as year one

    4. Year four: investors are beginning to see the merit in the inventor's idea. Inventor is playing it cool. she wants a bidding war. The idea is still considered kind of radical, but enough time has passed that forward thinking people are starting to see the value that the inventor saw back in year one. If the patent is not well-drafted, nobody will want it and the process ends here, at least so far as the prospect of making money off of the application/patent. For the rest of this timeline it will be assumed that the inventor paid to get a good patent application drafted and has a decent quality "intellectual property product" to sell (whether that is a realistic assumption or not).

    5. years five to 6: patent issues. huge bidding war. inventor sells to the highest bidder for a modest lump sum (let's say enough to cover what the inventor spent on patent prosecution) and a modest running royalty (lets say 1% of gross). Patent buyer takes on any remaining "patent prosecution" responsibilities. The idea is still not on the market (still too radical), but but-moderately-creative people are beginning to really visualize that the inventor's idea might be the wave of the future.

    6. years 7 to 9: the company that bought the patent struggles to get it to market and make it popular. Marketing and customer acclimation is involved. Royalties are sparse for the inventor because there are not many sales yet.

    7. Years 10 to 17: the harvest years. money is made. lots. expensive patent lawsuits are fought. patent litigators get their cut. inventor gets her cut. patent buyer gets the lion's share. Everybody is deliriously happy all the time (except when the inventor and the patent buyer are quibbling over the application of the details of the contract selling the patent from the inventor to the buyer).

    8. years 18 to 20: technology has moved on and the patented thing no longer sells like it used to. patent is still in force, but no one is making money off of it.

    9. Year 21: patent expires.

    This is just a typical example of how it could go when it goes very well. Most cases don't go this way because the technology is bad, the inventor was not first in time and/or the patent application was done badly.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Is the Functionality of a Website Patentable

    The last poster is assuming a standard patent for a ACTUAL product, likely an industrial product, not a consumer product, or a patent for a significant scientific advance.

    A software/business process/method patent is NOT the same and will have a much shorter llifespan before it is obsolete.

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