CHANG TSI
Insights
As stipulated in Article 2.3 of the Patent Law, “utility model” refers to any new technical solution relating to the shape, the structure, or their combination, of a product, which is suitable for practical use, wherein the structure of a product may be either the mechanical structure or the circuit structure. The circuit structure refers to the fixed connection relationship amongst the components or elements devices of which the product consists.
On this basis, it is further stipulated in the Guidelines for Patent Examination that only a product can get patent protection for utility model. All the processes are not the subject matter protected by the patent for utility model. The processes referred to above include the methods of use, manufacturing processes, processing methods, methods of communication, or computer programs, etc.
Claim 1 is as follows: an information collection providing device for realizing information tracing management of a commodity, characterized in comprising two units: (1) a traced information acquisition unit for acquiring traced information corresponding to the commodity; (2) a first-level information generation unit for generating the traced information and measurable first-level information of the commodity.
It is held in the Reexamination Decision that “a first-level information generation unit” is an essential feature when the device is solving the problem. Meanwhile, the function, namely “for generating the traced information and measurable first-level information of the commodity”, is realized by a computer software program in essence. Besides, in claim 1, two feature units of the device are neither connected together via a mechanical structure nor connected together via a circuit structure. At the same time, the description fails to state the connection therebetween in a detailed and systemic manner. Thus, the connection belongs to virtual connection realized depending on a computer program, not physical connection of components themselves, and is a process feature realized by a program in essence. Meanwhile, as for the overall technical solution of the claim, the process of information generation above further improves methods realized by existing programs. Thus, even though the claim further comprises other structural features, the patent also falls within the subject matter protected by the patent for utility model under Article 2.3 of the Patent Law due to the definition of the feature “a first-level information generation unit”.
Analysis: Existing mechanical devices cannot be operating independently without a computer program in terms of function realization in many cases. Hence, when the claims are drafted, for completely protecting the technical solutions, functional definition or similar description of a virtual device will be introduced, and such description will quietly possibly have the problem regarding the subject matter.
Technical solution to be protected: a mobile terminal transaction system mainly used for voice payment, and mainly consisting of parts such as a portable mobile device, a transaction terminal on the Internet, and a transaction center. The specific workflow of the device is as follows: after confirming transaction information (payment requests and payment information) identified by the display of the transaction terminal and inputted by a customer via an operating component, the transaction center transmits the information above again via the Internet.
It is held in the Decision of Invalidation that the mobile terminal transaction system in claim 1 mainly transfers payment requests and payment information in different ways, that is, the payment requests depend on the technical means of wireless voice transmission, and payment information depends on the technical means of Internet transmission. The two transfer processes can be realized depending on the Internet transmission technology, not improvements in the manner for realizing procedures in essence, thereby falling within the subject matter protected by the patent for utility model under Article 2.3 of the Patent Law.
Analysis: although the device is an entity, it can realize its functions entirely also according to the program instructions. As for such products which can operate only depending on a computer program, it shall not be directly judged that these products do not satisfy the subject matter protected by the patent for utility model only due to procedure control. Instead, whether the dependent computer program is all-purpose or common or whether it is necessary to improve the computer program shall be further judged.
1. On the premise that implementation of the technical solution is not affected, functional definition of a computer procedure as deemed is not drafted or drafted as less as possible.
2.When it is necessary to introduce the functional definition relating to a computer program for completely expressing the technical solution, only the functional definition directly associated with the device, other than that indirectly associated with the device, may be drafted.
Original claim: a burglarproof door, characterized in comprising: a control device electrically connected with the image collection device and the open-close device for judging whether a closer person is a prestored secure person according to the facial image collected by the image collection device, and controlling opening or lockup of the open-close device according to the judgment result.
Modified claim: a burglarproof door, characterized in comprising: a control device electrically connected with the image collection device and electrically connected with the open-close device, the control device being used for collecting and receiving an image from the image collection device and also used for controlling opening or lockup of the open-close device.
