Volume 10 Issue 2

Internet Patents

GAYE MIDDLETON*

In the last five years, development and use of the Internet has increased at a phenomenal rate. Operation of the Internet depends on a wide range of technologies. With the shift in Internet use from primarily non-commercial to commercial use, there has been a corresponding shift among creators of Internet technology from making that technology freely available to protecting their intellectual property interests in that technology. Patents have become a powerful means of protecting a creator’s interests in Internet technology. While it is generally recognised that Internet technology is patentable, patenting of two types of Internet inventions, namely software and methods of doing business, remains controversial. This paper examines patenting of these two types of Internet inventions from a historical perspective, culminating in the recent US State Street decision. The discussion focuses on the US, where most recent developments have occurred, with comments on the position in Australia and the European Union. This is followed by a discussion of arguments for and against patenting of Internet inventions, which reveals that most criticisms of Internet patents stem from the patent system itself. Accordingly, the appropriate solution to many of the problems arising from Internet patents is reform of the patent system rather than the abolition of patent protection for Internet inventions.