I voted to delete this, but I keep it here for future reference...
Storyline patents (also known as plot patents) are a potential class of patents that aim to protect a fictional storyline via a utility patent. While several storyline patent test applications are currently pending in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, no court of competent jurisdiction has yet ruled on the allowability of storyline patents. There is debate as to whether fictional storylines are patentable subject matter and whether any fictional storylines could pass the tests of novelty and nonobviousness.
Storyline patents vs copyright edit
Storyline patent protection may be confused with copyright protection. Copyright law protects the expression of a unique plot (but not the plot itself), and allows a copyright holder to recover damages against a copyright infringer. To recover for copyright infringement usually requires a showing of access and substantial similarity to the protected work.
A patent, on the other hand, allows the patent holder to recover damages against one who makes, uses, sells, offers to sell, or imports the claimed invention. A showing of knowledge, access, or intent is not required to recover for patent infringement. Therefore, the intellectual property encompassed by a patent is typically much broader than that of a copyright. Further, a storyline patent would protect an underlying plot -- including all of its possible expressions -- not merely a single actual expression of the plot. A storyline patent would help to prevent one from stealing an author's unique plot and creating a new work containing a different setting and characters.
History edit
No storyline patents currently exist. Andrew Knight was in 2003 the first person to submit a storyline patent application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). The application remains pending and has not been published.
Related to the issue of statutory patent subject matter, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (generally considered the high court for patent-related cases) approved business method patents in 1998 and software patents in 1999. Both approvals were accompanied by surges in corresponding patent applications at the PTO. The issue of storyline patents will likely eventually be heard by the Federal Circuit, which will be charged with determining whether methods of producing and displaying media containing novel, nonobvious plots are statutory subject matter under U.S. patent laws.
Law edit
Because of the broad scope of statutory subject matter under U.S. patent laws (also referred to as the "utility requirement" under Section 101), the most significant hurdles for storyline patents will likely be the "novelty requirement" of Section 102 and the "nonobviousness requirement" of Section 103. In other words, neither old or existing storylines, nor any of their obvious variations, are eligible for patent protection. Patent laws, which are often touted as enticing inventors to create new inventions without taking from the public domain, equally apply to storyline patents. Thus, whether or not storyline patents will become a reality in the U.S. depends largely in part on whether inventors can conceive of truly unique plots that do not currently exist in the public domain.