E-Commerce And Patent Protection

Presented at the 2004 Seoul International Conference on Intellectual Property & Commercialization
(LES Korea and AIPPI Korea)

In 1886, a telegraph operator was able to obtain a shipment of watches that was refused by a local jeweller. Using the telegraph, he sold all the watches to fellow operators and railroad employees. Within a few months, he had made enough money to leave his job and start his own store. The telegraph operator's name was Richard Sears and his company later became Sears, Roebuck & Company. By using the telegraph to facilitate the sale of the watches, Richard Sears was engaging in e-commerce.

E-commerce is short for electronic commerce, and is simply the idea of replacing traditional business activity with business activity that is executed using any information and communication technology (ICT). Whilst this activity is not new, it is the widespread adoption of the internet that has led to the importance of e-commerce to business today. The internet enables