Software Patents and Current Trends

To increase the digital economy in different countries many firms engage in costly R & D activities to develop innovative software application for achievement of competitive benefit. This paper covers eight countries the most developed software industry in the world US and than after Europe, UK, Japan, Australia, South Africa, Malaysia, India, and Israel. These countries are having its own standard to grant software Patents, the laws followed by these countries are simply outlined one by one.

United States

The some of landmark decision of the most developed software industry were Diamond v. Diehr, In re Alappat, In re Lowry, State Street Bank &Trust Company v. Signature Financial Group, In re Wait, etc. At present the law in the US is “an abstract idea by itself never satisfies the requirement of the Patent Law. However an abstract idea when practically applied to produce a useful, concrete and tangible result satisfies it.”

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (UPSTO) has now one chapter on Patent Business Methods and for business methods and data analysis it’s granting Patents to software techniques if they are useful. Single click to order goods in an online transaction like famous Amazon.com.
1-click patent, An online system of accounting, In line rewards incentive system, On-line frequent buyer program, programs letting customers set their own price for hotel booking etc.

The figure shows the growth of patents in US.

Europe

Under the European Patent Convention (EPC) 1973 and particularly in its article which specifically states that ” discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods; aesthetic creations; schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing games or doing business, and programs for computers; (emphasis added) ,presentations of information will not be regarded as invention and excludes from patententability. The same law is followed by member countries of EPC where computer programs and business methods can not be patented. Well however practically its not so.

EPC formed an organization named European Patent Office which doesn’t work for under the European Commission. There is lack of consistent practice among EPO and the number of patent offices of the EPC’s member countries in granting patents and there’s been a good deal of uncertainty whether software patents are even enforceable. To harmonize the practice, a draft was proposed by European Commission on the subject in 2002 but the text was never agreed upon. Some feared that in Europe there is much more regime liberalism as compared to US which on the other hand others feared that they would lose the patent protection that they already have and enjoyed. Ultimately the proposal got defeated in European Parliament on July6, 2006 , which makes clear that the inconsistent practice that caused the commission to seek to clarify the law is still continuing.

UK

The effects of EPC are followed by United Kingdom Patent Law such that “programs for computers ” are not patentable to the extent that a patent application relates to a computer program as such. In Feb 2008 In re Astron Clinica Ltd. , it concerned six application that claimed to be ‘a method of doing’ and ‘device of doing it’ by running a suitably programmed computer on the device. Effectively, the program that carries out a method (related to Astron clinica case) . United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) rejected these applications.

As per UK laws ‘An invention is considered as an invention if it provides contribution that is not excluded and which is also technical. A computer program which implements industrial process may well be considered as an invention but the program implements business process is not considered to be an invention’.

Japan

The country which is next to US and Europe is Japan in net exporter of intellectual rights.The standards for granting software patents were revised in 1993. The software patent law in Japan are much lenient. Software related invention are patentable. As per the patent law in Japan the nature of invention is defined as ‘ a creation of technical ideas utilizing a law of nature’. As per Japan guidelines claims can be patented if ‘utilization of nature law in information processing performed by software’ and ‘invention using hardware resources’.

Cause of lenient guidelines the software which can not be patented in Europe can be patented in Japan. So it is the second country which registers number of software patents after US.

Australia

In Australia , if the methods of doing business are pure or abstract then they are not considered to be patentable, but if the method is implemented using a computer, it avoid the exclusion business methods.

The Court referred to National Research Development Corporation v. Commissioner of Patents[13], as being the leading authority in Australia[14], where the High Court said “a process, to fall within the limits of patentability . . . , must be one that offers some advantage which is material, in the sense that the process belongs to a useful art as distinct from a fine art . . . – that its value to the country is in the field of economic endeavor.”

India

As Indian patent law ‘a mathematical or business method or computer program par se(standing alone, in itself or by itself)’ or algorithms is not invention for purposes of the Patent Act. It was further modified ‘a computer program per se other than its technical application to industry or a combination with hardware’ can be patented.

The current examination guidelines of the Indian Patent Office on software sound similar to the traditional European approach which the European Parliament reconfirmed on 2003-09-24.

South Africa

In South Africa , the primary objective of a patent system should be to encourage and stimulate innovation. Some strict rules are followed to award of a patent. Firstly the invention must be new – that it must be substantially different from any prior art. Secondly, important, it must be inventive or non obvious – that is- with the same invention no any average practitioner in the field of technology would come up where the patent is awarded. Thirdly, the patent should be useful.
These are the regime to grant patents in South Africa and same is followed for the software.

Israel

In Israeli, patenting of software-related inventions depends on the term “process.” In the Rosenthal and United Technologies cases, courts interpreted the term as essentially dealing with a definite physical matter to change its appearance or condition. According to this line of reasoning, Israeli patent laws do not reflect on a computer program to be a process because it does not generate physical changes.

Malaysia

The existing Malaysia patent law does not have any specific provision for software related inventions. Section 13(1)(a) of the Malaysian Patent Act 1983 specifically excludes from patentable subject material “discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods” and paragraph (c) excludes “schemes, rules or methods for doing business, performing purely mental acts or playing games”. This is quite alike to the patent law in UK . Malaysia has adopted a modified system in its examination of patent applications that depend on whether the claims have been registered in other countries. In this manner, software based patents have been granted in Malaysia.

Conclusion

The developed countries are having very good amount of quality, quantity and value of the patents. Comparing the developing countries they still on progress there is improvement in their quantity but the factors like quality and value are still having a great difference with the low achievement in independent innovation and being the follower of powerful countries which no such self conducting policies. The government of the developing countries must strengthen the patent protection dynamics in favor of its civilians and add some more independent strategies.

Posted in Software | Tagged | Comments Off on Software Patents and Current Trends

Social Media Optimization Services

The internet is one of the most effective media of today. More and more people are surfing the internet every day, and internet is fast becoming one of the best forms of link between people hailing from the farthest parts of the world. Information is getting shared faster than one could have ever imagined, and this potential of the internet can be tapped effectively by any company wanting promotion.

No wonder that Social Media Optimization Services is one of the most sought after services today for the promotion of products. Social media can be defined as a set of collaborative tools, like blogs, social Networking sites and forums, which allow the surfer to rise from being just a passive observer to someone who is active, who can modify the content, or can share his own thoughts with everyone who has access to that site. Social media optimization is nothing but a form of Internet Marketing, where publicity about a site or product is generated by the use of social media. Using blogs and similar forums, we can find prospective customers, who may be interested in our products, very easily.

Social Media Optimization Services are services provided by some other company to increase the visibility of a site or product in the internet social media. They advice us on the steps that can be taken to attract the attention of more likely customers. The ways to accomplish this may be manifold.

For example, almost every social networking site today, like Orkut and Facebook, has many numbers of communities devoted to a group of people with similar interests. Advertising in communities which fit our bill and making custom made applications, is not only less expensive than advertising in traditional media, but also reaches out to a wider sphere of people from different backgrounds. Creating blogs containing the enticing details of our products, and thus catching the eye of surfers, is another such method.

The services may also include viral marketing, where videos and articles promoting our products are put on sites which deal with similar issues and things. Online calendars can also be used to display and bookmark the dates if we are trying to publicize some event.

If our product happens to be a site, then the service provider may also suggest increasing the visibility of the site, i.e. increasing the number of search tags, adding more content related to the site, so that the site features in more searches made by people. This increases the hit ratio dramatically. Another common suggestion is to update the page regularly, and add facilities of RSS feeds, bookmarks and newsletters. The bookmarks can even be shared, which means more publicity by those people whose attention we have managed to capture. Letting the content travel across sites, by letting other site developers tag our site’s content, is another popular method. Inbound links can also be rewarded.

A new concept which has revolutionized the concept of social media optimization is advertising via mobiles. The user may send some message using the site, and the message, which also acts as the advertisement of the site or product being promoted is delivered to the recipient. This also helps us to reach out to people who have no internet access.

Posted in Social Media | Tagged | Comments Off on Social Media Optimization Services

Four Reasons You Need to Have an Accident Assistant App in Your Phone

Let’s say you play the lead role in your own film. Do you think you’ll survive it? Regardless of genre, there will always be conflicts that the lead character needs to face. Sequentially, it inserts in the most unexpected parts of the storyline that you meet by surprise. The big question now is: Are you ready to face them? And if you do, how will you counter attack such conflicts? You have to admit you are not as secure and immovable like the roles Tom Cruise usually play in his series of films. Admit it. In some circumstances, you just need a personal injury lawyer for help. Better yet, an accident assistant app in your own phone. Simple.

You never know when the villain strikes

Accidents are undesirable, unforeseen events that trigger a rush of adrenalin in your body. They demand a certain reaction and with an accident assistant app in your mobile phone, you get to contact your personal injury lawyer right away. You must know pretty well the other perks that you can benefit from having this app, but what truly matters is the speed of information dissemination from an accident scene toward your personal injury lawyer’s database. It’s almost like an automatic sensor that sends signals to your lawyer wherever he is in real-time. Installing an accident assistant app in your phone is like having a form of mobile self-defense.

The plot of your movie is very unpredictable

The good thing about accident assistant apps is that it is handy that you can take it everywhere you go. Movie lead characters always have this magnet that attracts certain kinds of trouble including but not limited to wrongful deaths and serious personal injury offenses. You really can’t tell what would happen next because all you have as the character chasing for a specific goal is the past and the present. In reality, movie viewers are more aware of the possible consequences than you are. So it’s always better to become on guard with an app that easily gets access to your personal injury lawyers.

The lead characters fall sometimes

Storylines in films and literature never fail to highlight the climax. It is what keeps the viewers glued to their seats. It is what makes a story interesting instead of boring. In reality, however, the climax happens when you are at your least secure moments, when you are vulnerable and prone to danger. Regardless of gender, there are moments that you just can’t protect yourself no matter how able you are – that is, when something ends up in court. With a personal injury lawyer or an accident assistant app, you’ll always have something or someone to lean on at times like these.

But they always rise again

Personal injury is not an easy situation to handle. If worst comes to worst, it will stay longer in court with both parties trying to prove their point to get the justice they want the system to serve. With an app you can take wherever and a personal injury lawyer who knows how to work his or her way to win a case, you can gather evidences and store them in safe-keeping for future use. And this is how the lead character rises up before the credits begin to roll.

Posted in Mobile Apps | Tagged | Comments Off on Four Reasons You Need to Have an Accident Assistant App in Your Phone

Animal Agents Game Review

Cerasus Media has delivered quite a good one-two punch with their Animal Agents game, a Hidden Object mystery casual game that offers twice the action, twice the puzzles, and twice the excitement than other games within its genre. And why is that so? Well, let’s find out with this review, shall we?

Well, as far as Hidden Object games go, the mechanics of the Animal Agents game is just the same as you may have been used to before. Find all the objects within your list per each level, unlock another part of the story, and then you’re done… just as simple as that. But what really sets this game apart is the two unique features I have not yet seen on other Hidden Object games. One is the parallel story lines, and the other is the one of a kind list presentations. And really, with these stuff added to this game, we may be looking at the evolution of the Hidden Object genre and eventually say goodbye to its almost redundant game play.

Anyway, as I said before, the Animal Agents game actually has parallel story lines wherein you get to play each version of the game’s story between the two protagonists. At the start of the game, you get to choose between Anna and Justin on how you will tackle your sleuthing adventure and solve the mystery between their two different point of views. These two stories are just the same but each protagonist tackles it on a different approach, thus doubling the overall game time of the adventure. This may also mean that in the end, we may get to see them meet each other, but I won’t spoil your fun so that’s really for you to find out. 🙂

Another unique feature of the Animal Agents game is how the object lists are presented depending on each level. Most of the time in Hidden Object games, we’re already used to the static object lists, therefore I’m really glad that I get to experience uniqueness in this game for a change. Anyway, the object lists are presented in either of the following varieties:

1. Traditional object list – what we are already used to see in most Hidden Object games.

2. Silhouette object list – you’ll have to pattern the given white silhouettes to the actual objects in the room.

3. Phrase object list – various NPCs in the game are talking to you and instructing you to find particular objects of interest.

4. Sound object list – you have to listen carefully on this one and try to associate the sound with a hidden object.

All in all, the Animal Agents game is really a fun game that fuses a great story line to its one of a kind Hidden Object game play. I really find it very engaging mainly because unlike most games of this type, the Animal Agents game actually offers something new for my senses and from what I know about players is that they really do appreciate experiencing something unique in their choice of game genres. Of course, the game is also not perfect in all ways, but most of its imperfections are just minor things that you can easily overlook – like some unrelated music with respect to the background and some objects unrealistically hidden on a particular scenario.

It’s unique, it’s challenging and it’s fun. And considering its minor flaws, I really suggest you try the Animal Agents game too.

Posted in Game | Tagged | Comments Off on Animal Agents Game Review