Person who has ordinary skill in the art.

OK, so much for the first three requirements of utility, novelty

and non-obviousness. There's a fourth requirement as well, and

this is the one that's particularly relevant for the issue of

Business methods. This requirement governs the issue of what

Constitutes patentable subject matter. Things which are

Generally considered patentable are processes, machines, a

Composition of matter (such as a synthesised chemical

Compound) and so on. These are rather broad categories, of

course, but - here's where it gets interesting - there have

Traditionally been exceptions to patentability in certain specific

Cases. This means that certain subject matters - such as

Business methods - havebeenbarredfrom patentability.

That's right: traditionally, business methods could not be

Patented. We can assume that the thinking behind this was

that abstract ideas can't be patented.

Recently, however, some important decisions have put an end

to this practice. I'd like us to have a look at some landmark

Cases.. .

Listening 2

Patrick: Well, hello, Thomas, good to see you, come in.

Thomas: Hi, Patrick, thanks.

Patrick: Thomas, you know Rebecca Schneider, don't you?

We're working on the distance learning case together.

Rebecca: Sure, we already met. Hi, Thomas.

Thomas: Hi, Rebecca.

Patrick: Right. Rebecca, Thomas'li be shadowing us on this

case. Well, let's get down to work, shall we? Maybe we

Should start by finding out what you know about distance

Learning, Thomas.

Thomas: OK. I only know that distance learning basically refers

To a learning situation in which the teacher and the student

Are in separate locations. And so the teaching is done via

Technology, such as the Internet.

Patrick: Yes, that's right. And naturally, there are copyright

Issues involved.

Thomas: Yes, I imagine the concept of 'fair use' plays a role -

when you're allowed to make limited use of copyrighted

material without permission. If I'm not mistaken, you can

Use copyrighted material for educational purposes.

Rebecca: Well, generally speaking, that's true. Traditionally, the

Copyright Act has allowed teachers to 'display and perform'

The works of others in the classroom for educational

Purposes. So a teacher can read a poem aloud in class

Without permission or make photocopies of a text for

Classroom use.

Patrick: But with distance learning, things get a bit more

Complicated. Audio transcripts E

Thomas: In what way?

Patrick: Well, a teacher's rights to the fair use of copyrighted

material for distance learning are much more limited. That's

Because distance learning usually involves materials being

Uploaded to websites. And that means that the materials -

Texts, images or music created by others - can be

Transmitted allover the world, potentially to millions of

People. These materials could then theoretically be

Downloaded or altered by other users. Naturally, all of this

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 703