Business methods cannot be patented in Israel

Business methods cannot be patented in Israel

26 October 2006

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Business methods cannot be patented in Israel

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Israeli Patent Registrar Dr. Meir Noam has ruled that business methods cannot be patented in
Israel on the grounds that it did not “exist in any field of technology nor had any industrial
use”.

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A patent application for a sales promotion method for products and services was therefore
rejected. Although business methods are allowed by the US Patent Office, the Registrar noted that
this was because US patent law permits it. The same is not true in Israel.

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The Registrar also added that, in order to comply with TRIPS – Trade-Related aspects of
Intellectual Property rights, to which Israel is a signatory, Israel has broadened the scope of
patentable inventions from inventions in “industry or agriculture” to inventions in “any field of
technology”.