Method (patent)

In United States patent law, a method, also called "process", is one of the four principal categories of things that may be patented through "utility patents". The other three are a machine, an article of manufacture (also termed a manufacture), and a composition of matter.

In that context, a method is a series of steps for performing a function or accomplishing a result. While the terms method and process are largely interchangeable,method usually refers to a way to use a product to accomplish a given result, and process usually refers to a series of steps in manufacture. Thus, one might speak about a method for curing headaches that comprises the administration of a therapeutically effective dose of aspirin or speak about a process for making soap or candles.

Not all methods, in the dictionary sense, are methods for purposes of United States patent law. The case law "forecloses a purely literal reading of § 101." The concept is elaborated in the article machine-or-transformation test.

Method

Method may refer to:

Arts

Method (Experience Design Firm)

Method, Inc. is an international experience design firm with offices in San Francisco, New York, and London.

History

Method is an international experience design firm focused at the intersection of brand, product, and service design. Method was created in 1999 by Kevin Farnham, David Lipkin, Patrick Newbery, Mike Abbink, and Meng Mantasoot. First started in San Francisco, Method's founding principle was to use multidisciplinary, multi-platform design thinking to create beautiful and extendable solutions. Method's goal was to be quick to adapt to new technology. Method has approximately 100 employees in 3 offices located in San Francisco, New York, and London.

In 1999, the opportunity to work together with Autodesk arose, launching Method. In 2000, Method expanded and opened its New York office in order to accommodate more work. Method's earliest clients were Autodesk, Adobe Systems, Gucci, Palm, MoMA, and Macromedia.

Their international presence was established in 2008 when Method opened its London office.

Method (computer programming)

A method (or message) in object-oriented programming (OOP) is a procedure associated with an object class. An object is made up of behavior and data. Data is represented as properties of the object and behavior as methods. Methods are also the interface an object presents to the outside world. For example a window object would have methods such as open and close. One of the most important capabilities that a method provides is method overriding. The same name (e.g., area) can be used for multiple different kinds of classes. This allows the sending objects to invoke behaviors and to delegate the implementation of those behaviors to the receiving object. Method in java programming sets the behaviour of class object. For example an object can send an area message to another object and the appropriate formula will be invoked whether the receiving object is a rectangle, circle, triangle, etc.

Methods also provide the interface that other classes use to access and modify the data properties of an object. This is known as encapsulation. Encapsulation and overriding are the two primary distinguishing features between methods and procedure calls.