Behind the Headlines: debate over business process patenting rages on

The ability of dot-com companies to patent mundane business processes was labelled as ridiculous by one guest on this week's Behind the Headlines programme.

The issue has been forced into the limelight by high-profile lawsuits involving Amazon.com and Priceline.com.

Amazon has taken out an injunction against Barnes and Noble for infringing its patent on 'one-click' buying, while Priceline.com is challenging Microsoft for its use of 'reverse-bidding' on its Expedia travel Web site.

Rene Carayol, chairman of E-photomail, believes the idea of companies registering processes which are not genuinely innovative is laughable.

He said: "If Amazon do go through with this, it means it's the only place you can buy with 'one-click'. No-where else. What about the consumer? What we want is choice for the consumer. Amazon should be brave enough to say competition is what gets the best products, best services for the customer."

But Richard Sykes, chairman of Morgan Chambers, said: "I don't see what's wrong with the idea of being able to protect very innovative ideas even though they may not be expressed in hardware and plants and factories."

It is not currently possible for companies to patent business processes in Europe - but the EC is considering moving towards the US model, where these patents can be awarded for 25 years.

In Sykes' opinion, anyone who comes up with a revolutionary idea should be given the opportunity to cash-in on it. "In this area, the protection should be a good deal less [than 25 years] but still offer a degree of protection so innovators get the chance to make a good margin on their ideas before other competitors come in and replace it with something more creative."

The other topic up for discussion this week was the legal wrangling between John Lewis and Dixons over anti-competitive PC pricing.

The full Behind the Headlines programme can be viewed in the IT Law channel http://www.silicon.com/a36967 .