The patent was declared by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and was first turned in on the 26th of November 2001.
The invention supports extensive processes in intelligent systems, even when the prerequisites for this workflow change during the process. For example, Online Consultant can be used to build systems that help and direct doctors and nurses through a treatment process where the patient’s condition changes all the time, without the system having to start again each time a change takes place. No other system on the market can manage this.
Online Consultant is the engine behind a number of e-government solutions in Denmark, Holland and Poland, including the state government-to-business portal (Virk.dk), where Online Consultant can guide a company through the jungle of administrative paperwork involved in starting a new company or building new facilities.
Broad Patent with High Value
The invention covered by the patent is broadly described. It covers the complete methodology used by Online Consultant, and must necessarily be used by systems with the same dynamic characteristics as Online Consultant.
The Resultmaker patent was achieved without any resistance, the original patent application being accepted as is. This indicates that no other competing patents exist. Since patent applications are only published 18 months after they are turned in, there was no way to know if other companies were thinking along the same lines in 2000 or 2001. None were, however, and Resultmaker has achieved a unique, leading position in workflow development and support.
Software Patents Create Value for Danish Companies
The patent was applied for exclusively in the U.S.A., as it is easier to apply for software patents. Additionally, the U.S. permits that the products in question be made public when patent application is made (insofar as this is done within a year). This is often the case in a market-oriented Danish startup, as the company often tests its product with customers and investors before investing in securing a patent.
Securing a patent in the U.S. is considered sufficient, as the major competitors are American or cannot accept marketing a product without access to the American market.
”An ambitious company like Resultmaker has, without doubt, great advantage in patenting its software developments – the debate in Denmark that patents are damaging for small companies is both absurd and theoretical. We need to get out of the rut and secure intellectual property rights on the many excellent developments made by our extensive Danish ability to innovate and out-think the big guys,” says Resultmaker CEO Kaare Nørgaard.
The long case handling time (3½ years) is almost certainly due to a backlog of patents in the U.S. in the wake of the many developments of the .com wave.