[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: EC patent
On Thu, 17 Oct 1996 17:38:28 -0800, jim bell said:
>At 04:53 PM 10/17/96 -0400, Robert Hettinga wrote:
>>--- begin forwarded text
>>Date: Thu, 17 Oct 1996 14:03:34 +0800
>>From: James Lee <[email protected]>
>>Reply-To: [email protected]
>>+----------------------------------------------------+
>>Addressed to: [email protected]
>>+----------------------------------------------------+
>>
>>I heard that CitiBank has filed for a patent in Japan with 140+ claims
The document is on my desk:
CitiBank's patent in Japan #: Toku-Kou-Hei 7-111723
o 104 claims
o published date: 29 Nov, 1995
o 112 pages (text: 48 pages, fig.: 64 pages.)
# Note:
# "Toku" means "Tokkyo", "tokkyo" == "patent"
# "Kou" means "Koukoku", "koukoku" == "published"
# "Hei" means "Heisei", "Heisei" is the Japanese year-
# name; This year == Heisei 8 == 1996.
A publication of the CitiBank's patent was a big news in
industrial or financial domain in Japan. I found the
article on Nikkei-Sangyo shinbun.
# sangyo == industrial
# shinbun == paper
>>covering many aspects of electronic commerce, security electronic
>>transaction, etc.
Probably yes.
>>--- end forwarded text
>
>Maybe Japanese law is different, but don't I recall reading somewhere that
>"methods of doing business," business practices in general, are not
>patentable?
It seems that "Toku-Kou-Hei 7-111723" claims specified
procedure, not *general* "methods of doing business".
>Not that it would surprise me if the Patent Office idiots were to change
>their minds, like they did concerning software, algorithms, and mathematics
>in general...
I think that Japanese P.O. has changed their policy in a
few years influenced with U.S.P.O.
///hayashi