Comparative Research On Business Methods Patentability In China And America

With the development of information technology, the penetration of network, theinnovation of E-commerce environment and the financial fields, the BusinessMethods in the form of electronic technology、computer software and Varioustechnical collection are created and promoted. It is a big question whether suchBusiness Methods should be protected by Patent Law and furthermore what kind viewof standard should be adopted.The United States holds a fundamental idea that “anything under the sun madeby humans should be patentable subject matter”. On1998, the State Street Bank v.Signature Financial Group opined that business methods could be patented andregarded any process conforming to a dictionary definition as patentable subjectmatter, as long as it produces a “useful,concrete, and tangible result.” However theBilski Case implied the end of rapid expansion of Business Methods Patents inAmerica these years. The Supreme Court heard an oral arguments in the patentsubject matter eligibility case of Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS BankInternational on March31,2014, which would have a huge impact on the softwarePatentability. Affected by this case, this thesis systematically analyzes the legality of business methods.This thesis is divided into five parts:The first part defined and clarifies the business methods patents and raise twoquestions exists during the business methods patentability review in China.The second part focus on the annalize of the United states cases and courtopinions.The third part is the Sino-US comparison of business methods Patentability.The fourth part points out the measures we should take to improve the quality ofpatentability of business methods in China.The conclusion part summarizes the core arguments of this thesis.