enpan's Patent & Linux practice: One-Click Patent

2008年8月13日星期三

One-Click Patent

Amazon公司有個有名的One Click專利
美國專利US5960411
內容事實上不多，圖示在一半以上，下圖明顯看出這個專利的精神：
先交代網頁上各個項目(items)，選取並加入購物車(shopping cart)，用1個click完成購買過程，最後顯示購買項目！(在另一張圖)

而右邊流程圖就清楚表達這個流程，從網頁-購物車-one-click-完成
這也是經常談案講到一些軟體流程時，希望發明人能夠揭露使用的環境或是具體的樣態，以免專利淪於純粹軟體流程的核駁理由，當然Claim的規劃也是要注意，儘量與電腦系統、記憶體、資料庫等硬體有交互作用！

Claim如下：
1. A method of placing an order for an item comprising:
under control of a client system,
displaying information identifying the item; and
in response to only a single action being performed, sending a request to order the item along with an identifier of a purchaser of the item to a server system;
under control of a single-action ordering component of the server system,
receiving the request;
retrieving additional information previously stored for the purchaser identified by the identifier in the received request; and
generating an order to purchase the requested item for the purchaser identified by the identifier in the received request using the retrieved additional information; and
fulfilling the generated order to complete purchase of the item
whereby the item is ordered without using a shopping cart ordering model.
以上紅字是我認為此Claim與硬體之間有具體連結的部分！讓此案可被專利！
當然，各國對此申請案的觀點應該不甚一致

但是這個business model的經典案的第一次侵權訴訟並不成功！(控告Barnes & noble)
顯見法院在這種商業方法的侵權判斷格外小心，因為茲事體大，侵權難判，也怕影響其他商務行為的發展