Forwarded from the NINCH list. The main topic of interest to ARLIS/NA -- "Software and Business Method Patents" -- is excerpted from the original posting. The full report is available at the URL cited.
NINCH-ANNOUNCE <[log in to unmask]> 10/17/00 12:15PM
NINCH ANNOUNCEMENT
News on Networking Cultural Heritage Resources
from across the Community
October 17, 2000
National Academies Research on Intellectual Property Issues
http://www.nationalacademies.org/ipr
Although much of the following applies more to patents than to
copyright, readers might be interested in these research areas
commissioned by the Board on Science, Technology and Economic Policy (STEP) of the National Academies. The results of this research will be presented in a conference organized by the Committee on Intellectual Property Rights in the Knowledge-based Economy in early Fall 2001.
The broad areas of research are as follows:
[PATENT ADMINISTRATION AND LITIGATION]
SOFTWARE AND BUSINESS METHOD PATENTS
[BIOTECHNOLOGY
RELATED RESEARCH ACTIVITIES]
David Green
===========
Date: Mon, 16 Oct 2000 07:48:54 -0700
From: Clifford Lynch <[log in to unmask]>
To: Multiple recipients of list <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: National Academies Research on Intellectual Property Issues
The following announcement describes some of the work that the
National Academies is sponsoring on intellectual property issues.
Clifford Lynch
Director, CNI
=============
The National Academies
Board on Science, Technology and Economic Policy (STEP)
As part of its examination of intellectual property rights, the National
Academies STEP Board is pleased to announce the results of its March 23, 2000 request for proposals. It is expected that this research will help inform the deliberations of the Committee on Intellectual Property Rights in the Knowledge-based Economy over the coming months, and that final reports of this research will be presented and discussed at a public conference in early Fall
2001. The following activities were chosen to receive full or partial support by the STEP Board. In addition to the commissioned work, the Committee will have access to results of work being supported by other sponsors or provided on a primarily pro bono basis. The researchers and project descriptions are both pasted below this message and attached as a .pdf file. We are grateful for the
support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, who are helping support this initial research endeavor.
For further information on this research activity, please visit
www.nationalacademies.org/ipr, or contact:
Craig Schultz
Research Associate
STEP Board
[log in to unmask]
202.334.2200
www.nationalacademies.org/ipr
...
SOFTWARE AND BUSINESS METHOD PATENTS
1. Software Copyrights and Patent Rights: The Causes and Consequences of Regime Change in IP Protection
Although software patenting has accelerated, it is not clear
which types of firms with respect to what types of products have shifted from one form of IP protection to the other or supplemented one with the other and why. Nor is it known whether the greater propensity to patent is associated with increased licensing of computer program components or is largely defensive in nature.
Whatever the trends, what are their implications for the future of
the computer software industry? The investigator will relate data on software patents with copyright registrations identifiable by firm to shed light on these questions.
D. Mowery, U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business
2. Internet-Related Business Method Patents
Although the USPTO has been issuing patents relating to
business methods embodied in software for several years, the numbers were small and their significance largely unnoticed until the growth of the Internet and the 1998 Federal Circuit Court of Appeals decision in the State Street Bank case. To assess the causes of the acceleration of patenting and its implications for
financial services, electronic commerce, and other services, there is
a need for baseline data on patent holders, examination characteristics, patent references and scope, and litigation trends. The research team will develop a profile of Internet-related business method patents that will be useful to a variety of further research projects as well as policy discussions. A careful effort to develop intelligible definitions of related terms (i.e., software, Internet,
business methods, e-commerce, etc.) and relate them to USPTO
classifications will accompany this analysis.
John R. Allison, Graduate School of Business, University of Texas at Austin.
Emerson H. Tiller, University of Texas at Austin
...
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