The Amazon.Com Judgment: The Patentability Of The One-Click Method

On November 24, 2011, the Federal Court of Appeal rendered its judgment in the case of Canada (A.G.) v. Amazon.com, Inc. (2011 FCA 328) requiring the Commissioner of Patents to re-examine the patent application presented by Amazon.com in 1998, in a manner consistent with the Court's reasons. Instead of appealing that judgment, the Commissioner chose to deliver the patent claimed on January 17, 2012.

At first, the Commissioner had refused to grant a patent to Amazon.com for its one-click method of Internet shopping because the claimed invention was not an "art" or a "process" within the meaning of the Patent Act.

In 2010, the Federal Court had quashed that decision, judging that Amazon.com's patent application met the requirements of the law and therefore should have been granted by the Commissioner. That decision had given rise to new examination directives being given to the examiners at the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO).