Another Business Method Patent for Amazon.com

On September 2, 2003, Amazon.com, Inc. was issued yet another business method patent by the United States Patent Office.   US Patent No 6,615,226 entitled "Method and system for displaying and editing of information" relates to a computer method and system for the ordering of items over the Internet. The patent's claims are broad in scope, encompassing, for instance, a method for displaying a form in a hierarchical manner.   In the claimed method, a form with multiple sections, each section having descriptive information and a plurality of associated data entry fields, is provided to a user via his or her system.   The descriptive information of each section is displayed to the user, permitting the user to expand a section of the form to display the data entry fields by selecting the section.   The user can then collapse the expanded section, to hide the display of the data entry fields by requesting the system to do so.   The patent also claims a method for editing the contents of a form in a similar manner. The validity of the patent will undoubtedly be tested through litigation, with which Amazon is quite familiar.   In 1999, Amazon sued Barnes & Noble.com for allegedly infringing its patented 1-Click technology (specifically covered by US Patent No 5,960,411).   That action was ultimately settled out of court.   Amazon itself is being sued by Pinpoint Incorporated for allegedly infringing the company's several business method patents. Any corresponding Canadian patent to US Patent No 6,615,226 might also face challenge.   There is no formal definition of "business method patent", and the result of a similar Canadian patent application would depend, in part, on the characterization of the technical field of the invention by the Canadian Patent Office and whether the invention adds to the cumulative knowledge of the field. For more information on this topic, visit: http://news.com.com/2100-1019_3-5070569.html. http://www.zdnet.com.au/printfriendly?AT=2000048590-20276422. To review Amazon's new US Patent No. 6,615,226 B1, see: http://makeashorterlink.com/?L57132BD5. Summary by: Lenni Carreiro