China Med Device, LLC joined the NMPA Session on interpreting the “Notice of Medical Device Submission Material Requirements and Certificate Format” held on December 16, 2021. The NMPA published the […]

The post NMPA Officials’ Opinion on Submission Material Requirements appeared first on China Med Device.

U.S. Patent No. 11,065,542: Method and apparatus for determining user engagement in a videogame Issued July 20, 2021, to Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. Filed: December 3, 2019 (claiming priority to […]

If you have spent some time on social media in the past year, chances are you have come across Khabane Lame, who, although hardly says [...]

In most cases, property appraisals are done in order to assess the value of a home prior to its sale. The appraisal, which is accomplished when a third-party appraiser evaluates your residential property, is necessary before a real estate transaction is finalized with a lender, for example. There are many factors that go into how to find your home’s property value, including comparable sales and marketing trends as well as the area of the city in which the home is located. The appraiser finds your home’s property value at the time of the appraisal, which could be as soon as several weeks or months before closing. If you decide to sell your home in the near future, your home’s value could impact whether or not you can find an offer you’re comfortable with. With so many factors that go into a home’s appraised value, it’s important that you understand the … Continued

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When it comes to working, we want our colleagues and superiors to have experience. We want them to be familiar with the tasks and processes so that things become easier. This is the same with investing in real estate. We want our real estate agents to be experienced, whether as an agent or as an investor, so that confusion and misunderstandings are avoided. In this article we’re going to cover how to find an experienced real estate agent and where you can connect with them. An experienced real estate agent will have knowledge of the common problems that arise in buying or selling property, making them capable of presenting optimal solutions. For this reason, having an experienced real estate agent guide you through the whole investing process will make it easier. This article will assist you in finding the best agent for your real estate needs and why you need … Continued

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Three observations on China's role in Global SEP strategies: the Chinese courts are likely fulfilling political mandates notwithstanding the best of intentions; FRAND should be best viewed as a process as much as a substantive outcome where multiple jurisdictions may have a role to play; and despite the attention several cases have gotten, the system overall appears to be working well.

The Board was found to have applied the wrong standard for the second time in adjudicating the same claim. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board applied the wrong standard in determining that an Italian metal-working company by the name of Galperti did not commit fraud in its application to trademark its name, the U.S. Court...

This year, NFTs (non-fungible token), the latest hype in the world of distributed ledgers and cryptocurrencies, have taken the art and tech worlds by storm. But what are the implications for copyright, if any?

As you may recall from our post on the ‘Sony Vita’ invalidation case, where a trade mark is registered for a product but only used for something viewed by consumers as a different product, the trade mark right for the registered product for which it is not used is lost, even if it resembles the...

Benefits Of Crypto Payments And DeFi Projects For SMEs And Bitpace Customers

It's been over 10 years and it is safe to say that cryptocurrency is here to stay. Since the launch of the first cryptocurrency, the Bitcoin, the crypto market has witnessed a proliferation of digital currencies. It is estimated that there are currently over 9,000 cryptocurrencies today. The crypto space has been met with resistance from governments and corporations but one can say that it is gradually winning the hearts of some governments and corporations. With the global dominance of the crypto market, the benefits of DeFi projects and crypto payments are becoming more apparent and everyone seems to be gradually catching the buzz. This article talks about what Bitpace customers and SMEs stand to benefit from crypto payments and the various DeFi projects in the crypto space. 

Understanding Crypto Payments and DeFi Projects

Governments and corporations alike are becoming more receptive to the idea of digital currencies and accepting them as a form of payment for their products and services. For example, the Venezuelan government partnered with Litecoin to be used as a means of payment in Venezuela's mainstream international payments system. The Australian government does not tax cryptocurrency transactions. In the business world, corporations such as Microsoft, which started accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment as far back as 2014 for its games and apps have been receptive to crypto payments. PayPal, Starbucks, Etsy, and Overstock all accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for their products and services.

Crypto payments simply mean the act of using any cryptocurrency to pay for goods and services as against the conventional fiat currencies. Because of the digital nature of cryptocurrencies, crypto payments can only be done online via cryptocurrency payment gateways such as Bitpace. Payment gateways provide a platform for businesses to accept crypto payments from customers in exchange for their products and services. The payment gateway sector is gradually becoming a booming space and Bitpace has established itself as a reliable gateway for merchants and customers to exchange cryptocurrencies for products and services.

For investors, cryptocurrencies can also be used as a means of payment for other cryptocurrencies. For example, someone that has Litecoin and wants to exchange it for Bitcoin can use crypto payment platforms to do this. Depending on the terms and conditions of the exchange you're using, you can exchange Litecoin for Bitcoin for the value on the crypto exchange platform. You can also use crypto to pay for fiat currency. This is also a form of crypto payment. In this case, you will be using your crypto as a form of payment for fiat currency. Most crypto exchanges like Bitpace offer these crypto payment services. With Bitpace, you can make payments with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Ripple, TRON, IOTA, and so many others. 

DeFi projects, on the other hand, are decentralized finance projects that are based on blockchain technology. DeFi platforms use smart contracts on blockchains to offer financial instruments. A good example is Ethereum. This is different from the central financial intermediaries such as banks, brokerages, or exchanges that offer conventional financial instruments. In other words, users of DeFi platforms can trade cryptocurrencies, borrow or lend funds, speculate on the price movement of different assets using derivatives, earn interest in savings like accounts and insure against risk. All these transactions are done directly between the users of a DeFi platform. It eliminates the need for intermediaries. As of October 2020, it was estimated that a total of $11 billion in cryptocurrency had been deposited in various DeFi protocols. This figure rose to $20.5 in January 2021. 

What SMEs Stand To Gain With Crypto Payments And DeFi

With the big corporations already driving up their interests in crypto payments and DeFi projects, there is no better time for SMEs to join in. They have a lot to gain in adopting the same for their businesses. Here are some benefits of crypto payments for SMEs:

1. More Option For International Payment - If your business involves receiving payment from across the border, you will agree that it is usually fraught with issues like limited payment options and lag in transaction approval. Checks are sometimes inefficient, payment may take days sometimes, and online payment platforms are not accepted in every country. Crypto payments by nature are peer-to-peer payment systems that allow your customers to make payments without any intermediary determining the transaction. With a crypto payment platform like Bitpace, you can receive payments within minutes. 

2. No Issue Of Chargebacks - Business owners are at a risk of credit card chargebacks when payment is reversed by the intermediary. With crypto payments, you do not have to worry about third-party intermediaries reversing payment because of the peer-to-peer technology.  

3. Lower Transaction Fees - The different payment methods available to businesses have high transaction fees. Most payment merchants have set up fees, flat transaction fees, and a percentage of the payment made. Cumulatively, this will be on the high side and affect your business. With crypto payments, peer-to-peer transactions do not charge any transaction fee.

4. Penetration Of Younger Market - Cryptocurrency is most popular among the younger generation. They also have a better hang of it. They will be disposed to patronize a business that offers a crypto payment option as against the one that offers only fiat currency payment. Therefore, your business gains a wider market penetration in the youth demography. 

5. Secured Transactions - The decentralized nature of cryptocurrency guarantees a secured crypto transaction. Blockchain technology protects you from fraudsters. Blockchain technology also stops customers with insufficient funds to make payments. This prevents unnecessary time-wasting and chargebacks. 

Bitpace Crypto Payment Gateway

Bitpace is a crypto platform that offers crypto-based financial services for individuals and businesses. This crypto payment platform provides businesses with a platform that has multi-payment acceptance features and cryptocurrency trading. You also get fixed and dynamic deposit options that allow businesses to accept cryptocurrencies for their products and services from customers. You can also install Bitpace plug-in on your website and use the platform directly to receive crypto payments from your customers. In addition to serving as a payment gateway, businesses can also trade cryptocurrencies on Bitpace.  

Bitpace offers excellent crypto payment services that will ensure the smooth running of your business. Some of these services include:

1. Fixed Deposit - This service enables you to receive crypto payments from your customers in a wide range of cryptocurrencies. It also gives you the option to withdraw the value of these crypto payments in Fiat currency. Your transactions are guaranteed to be quick and secure.

2. Dynamic Deposit Process - This service ensures that your customer can make their crypto payment anywhere and anytime without any hassle. There are complex payment processes. There is a dedicated payment address between you and your customer.

3. Withdraw - Bitpace allows your customers to get their balance in coins without using another platform. All transactions are done on Bitpace. 

4. Trading - Bitpace is not only for business merchants to receive crypto payments. Individuals can also do their crypto trading on the platform. They offer the best crypto rates for traders and investors alike.

Bitpace is a reliable crypto payment gateway that guarantees easy, risk-free, secure, and convenient transactions for businesses and their customers. Once you install the Bitpace API and enter your secure login, you can begin to get paid in Bitcoin or other supported cryptocurrencies. You can choose to deposit your Fiat money in your bank account or have your crypto payment transferred into your crypto wallet.  

Benefits Of Using Bitpace For Crypto Payments

1. Multiple Cryptocurrencies - For business owners, Bitpace allows you to receive a variety of cryptocurrencies as payment for your products and services. There is a wide range of digital coins you can receive as payment. From Bitcoin to Algorand. All you need to do is register as a merchant on the Bitpace platform and you can start receiving crypto payments for your business. 

2. Easy and Fast Payment Processing - Bitpace offers instant payment processing services when you use the platform. You will not have to worry about delays in transaction glitches. Your customer pays you in crypto and you receive the payment instantly. You also do not need coding knowledge to be able to integrate Bitpace crypto payment on your website.

3. No Chargeback Fraud - Chargebacks are a major issue on payment platforms, be it fiat currency or cryptocurrency. Bitpace platform ensures you do not experience chargeback frauds on the crypto payment for your business. 

4. Affordable - The Bitpace crypto payment platform is very affordable for businesses to use. Bit Pace does not charge unnecessary fees such as commitment fees, monthly fees, or any other form of upfront charges. 

5. Global Presence - Bitpace has a worldwide reach that is an obvious advantage for businesses using the platform. Businesses that have customers all over the world can receive their crypto payments without any hassle.

6. Refund Process - When you have issues with your payment transactions, Bitpace offers a fast and reliable refund payment system. Whether you're underpaid or overpaid, you can initiate a refund process that will ensure you get what is due to you.

7. Partial Payment - This feature helps build your business, especially if you're just starting. It gives your customers enough time to fully pay for your products and services. 

Conclusion

It is hard to deny that the world is becoming more and more digital each day; the introduction of the Metaverse, cryptocurrency getting adopted by not only businesses but also by countries, and so on. Cryptocurrency is sitting right in the middle of all these developments and the next phase of life. It is still not late to integrate cryptocurrency into your businesses, take advantage of the countless benefits the crypto payments offer and take your businesses to the next level.

In a unanimous decision – Commissioner of Patents v Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Ltd [2021] FCAFC 202 – a Full Bench of three judges (Middleton, Perram and Nicholas JJ) of the Federal Court of Australia (‘Full Court’) has reversed last year’s ruling by Justice Burley that claims directed to a so-called ‘feature game’ implemented on an electronic gaming machine (EGM) constituted a patent-eligible ‘manner of manufacture’ under Australia law.  (A ‘feature game’ is a secondary, or bonus, game triggered by the occurrence of a defined event in the ‘base’ game of spinning reels.)  As I explained at the time, Justice Burley applied a two step test, asking firstly whether ‘the claimed invention is for a mere scheme or business method of the type that is not the proper subject matter of a grant of letters patent’ and then – if this question is answered in the affirmative – ‘whether the computer-implemented method is one where invention lay in the computerisation of the method’ as opposed to ‘merely plugging an unpatentable scheme into a computer’.  He found the claims to be patentable at the first step, because they were directed to ‘a mechanism of a particular construction’, i.e. a gaming machine.

The Full Court has rejected Justice Burley’s test, with the majority (Middleton and Perram JJ) proposing an alternative two step test (at [26]) which asks firstly whether the claimed invention is ‘a computer-implemented invention’ and then – if so – ‘can the invention claimed broadly be described as an advance in computer technology’.  The majority determined that Aristocrat’s EGM, despite being claimed in terms of a combination of hardware and software components, was in substance a computer-implemented invention, and that the asserted contribution of the claimed invention ‘pertains only to the use of a computer’ and not to ‘the development or advance of computer technology’ (at [63]-[64]).  As such, they concluded that the claims were not directed to patent-eligible subject matter.

The third judge of the Full Court, Nicholas J, arrived at the same ultimate conclusion, by different reasoning.  He agreed with the majority that Justice Burley’s two step test was not the correct approach, because it failed to ‘engage with the Commissioner’s submission that the invention as described and claimed was in substance a mere scheme or set of rules for playing a game implemented using generic computer technology for its well-known and well-understood functions’ (at [135]).  However, rather than embarking upon an inquiry as to whether Aristocrat’s claims were directed to a ‘computer-implemented invention’ he simply observed that ‘the substance of the invention, as described and claimed, resides in the game program code which embodies a computer implemented scheme or set of rules for the playing of a game’ (at [138]).  He further reasoned (at [140]-[142]) that the game code does not solve any ‘technological problem’, nor does it exhibit any ‘unusual technical effect due to the way in which the computer is utilised’, and therefore that there is nothing ‘about the way in which the game code causes the EGM to operate which can be regarded as having transformed what might otherwise be regarded as purely abstract information encoded in memory into something possessing the required artificial effect.’

While the Full Court found the representative claim at issue to be unpatentable, it did not entirely foreclose the possibility that there may be patent-eligible aspects to the inventions disclosed in Aristocrat’s four innovation patents.  The case has been remitted back to Justice Burley to determine any residual issues in light of the Full Court’s judgment.

There are positive and negative aspects to this decision.  On the plus side, the approach taken by the majority brings some clarity to the approach to be taken in construing and assessing claims to computer-implemented inventions, which often comprise a physical apparatus defined in terms of (possibly conventional) hardware, configured via software for particular functionality.  On the down side, however, the majority also relied upon the existence of ‘an advance in computer technology’ to confer patent-eligibility upon a computer-implemented invention, without providing clear guidance on what, exactly, is covered by this terminology.  The decision also perpetuates an uncertainty that exists around the exact role to be played by prior art information in applying the ‘manner of manufacture’ test to assess patent-eligibility.

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