Conversely, does the decision hold any promise as a supporting argument for the expanding of claims around the development of processes? In my opinion – probably not. The decision about patent law and patentability did not render any changes to the content of the income tax act, so far as I have read – all of the existing, well established rules will still apply, and process-related claims are unlikely to become any easier to defend, in consequence.
Instead, I expect that any discussion of patents will now (or still) be required to penetrate to a consideration of the technical content of a patent application, to establish the nature of the technological advancement embodied there.
Of course it could be argued that this more detailed consideration of the advancement has always been required, so that the impact of this recent decision will be minimal, from a SR&ED perspective. Nor do I really expect that processes of any kind are suddenly going to become easier to claim, regardless of the level of technical content embodied there. It would be nice – but I’m not holding my breath.
Bruce Madole