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Software Patents Under United Kingdom Patent Law
There are four overriding requirements for a patent to be granted under United Kingdom patent law. Firstly, there must have been an Patentable subject matter, invention. That invention must be Novelty (patent), novel, Inventive step and non-obviousness, inventive and Industrial applicability, susceptible of industrial application. (See Patentability.) Patent laws in the UK and throughout Europe specify a non-exhaustive list of excluded things that are not regarded as ''inventions'' to the extent that a patent application relates to the excluded thing as such. This list includes ''programs for computers''. Despite this, the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) regularly grants patents to inventions that are partly or wholly implemented in software. The extent to which this should be done under the current law and the approach to be used in assessing whether a patent application describes an invention has been settled by the Court of Appeal. The UK approach is quite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling disclosure of the invention."A patent is not the grant of a right to make or use or sell. It does not, directly or indirectly, imply any such right. It grants only the right to exclude others. The supposition that a right to make is created by the patent grant is obviously inconsistent with the established distinctions between generic and specific patents, and with the well-known fact that a very considerable portion of the patents granted are in a field covered by a former relatively generic or basic patent, are tributary to such earlier patent, and cannot be practiced unless by license thereunder." – ''Herman v. Youngstown Car Mfg. Co.'', 191 F. 579, 584–85, 112 CCA 185 (6th Cir. 1911) In most countries, patent rights fall under private la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of UK Judgments Relating To Excluded Subject Matter
Under United Kingdom patent law, a patent may only be granted for "an invention". While the meaning of invention is not defined, certain things are not regarded as inventions. Such things are excluded from patentability. This article lists judgments delivered by the UK courts that deal with excluded subject matter. The provisions about what are not to be regarded as inventions are not easy. There has been and continues to be much debate about them and about decisions on them given by national courts and the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office. This article also list some of the discussions that have been had about the different judgments. Law Article 52 of the European Patent Convention, which represents the source of UK law in this area and which should have the same meaning states that: :(1) European patents shall be granted for any inventions, in all fields of technology, provided that they are new, involve an inventive step and are susceptible of industrial applic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Software Patent
A software patent is a patent on a piece of software, such as a computer program, library, user interface, or algorithm. The validity of these patents can be difficult to evaluate, as software is often at once a product of engineering, something typically eligible for patents, and an abstract concept, which is typically not. This gray area, along with the difficulty of patent evaluation for intangible, technical works such as libraries and algorithms, makes software patents a frequent subject of controversy and litigation. Different jurisdictions have radically different policies concerning software patents, including a blanket ban, no restrictions, or attempts to distinguish between purely mathematical constructs and "embodiments" of these constructs. For example, an algorithm itself may be judged unpatentable, but its use in software judged patentable. Background A patent is a set of exclusionary rights granted by a state to a patent holder for a limited period of time, usual ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foundation For A Free Information Infrastructure
The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) is a non-profit organisation based in Munich, Germany, dedicated to establishing a free market in information technology, by the removal of barriers to competition. The FFII played a key organisational role and was very active in the campaign which resulted in the rejection of the EU software patent directive in July 2005. CNET awarded the FFII the Outstanding contribution to software development award for this work, which was the result of years of research, policy, and action. After the July 2005 victory, FFII has continued to defend a free and competitive software market by working towards adequate patent systems and open standards. Currently the FFII fights against software patents lobbies, not only in Europe but also in other parts of the world. It was founded as a German registered association under the name ''Förderverein für eine Freie Informationelle Infrastruktur (FFII) e.V.'' in 1999 by developer and fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
T 258/03
T 258/03, also known as ''Auction Method/Hitachi'', is a decision of a Technical Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO), issued on April 21, 2004. It is a landmark decision for interpreting Article 52(1) and (2) of the European Patent Convention (EPC) which built on the principles suggested by the same Board in T 641/00 (''Comvik, Two identities''). This decision, amongst others, but notably this one and T 641/00, significantly affected the assessment of an invention’s technical character and inventive step. It mainly stated that "a method involving technical means asan invention within the meaning of Article 52(1) EPC" and in stating so contrasts with T 931/95 (Pension Benefit Systems Partnership), which held that "the mere fact that data processing and computing means, i.e. technical means, ererecited in a method claim idnot necessarily confer a technical character to the claimed method". T 258/03 put apparatus and method claims on an equal footing for the p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Software Patents Under The European Patent Convention
The patentability of software, computer programs and computer-implemented inventions under the European Patent Convention (EPC) is the extent to which subject matter in these fields is patentable under the Convention on the Grant of European Patents of October 5, 1973. The subject also includes the question of whether European patents granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) in these fields (sometimes called "software patents") are regarded as valid by national courts. Under the EPC, and in particular its Article 52, " programs for computers" are not regarded as inventions for the purpose of granting European patents, but this exclusion from patentability only applies to the extent to which a European patent application or European patent relates to a computer program as such. As a result of this partial exclusion, and despite the fact that the EPO subjects patent applications in this field to a much stricter scrutiny [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proposed Directive On The Patentability Of Computer-implemented Inventions
The Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions (Commission proposal COM(2002) 92), procedure number 2002/0047 (COD) was a proposal for a European Union (EU) directive aiming to harmonise national patent laws and practices concerning the granting of patents for computer-implemented inventions, provided they meet certain criteria. The European Patent Office describes a computer-implemented invention (CII) as "one which involves the use of a computer, computer network or other programmable apparatus, where one or more features are realised wholly or partly by means of a computer program". The proposal became a major focus for conflict between those who regarded the proposed directive as a way to codify the case law of the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office (unrelated to the EU institutions) in the sphere of computing, and those who asserted that the directive is an extension of the pat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opposition Procedure Before The European Patent Office
The opposition procedure before the European Patent Office (EPO) is a post-grant, contentious, '' inter partes'', administrative procedure intended to allow any European patent to be centrally opposed. European patents granted by the EPO under the European Patent Convention (EPC) may be opposed by any person from the public (no commercial or other interest whatsoever need be shown). This happens often when some prior art was not found during the grant procedure, but was only known by third parties. An opposition can only be based on a limited number of grounds,"The function of Article 100 EPC is to provide, within the framework of the EPC, a limited number of legal bases, ie a limited number of objections on which an opposition can be based." iDecision G 1/95 (19 July 1996) reasons 4.1. i.e. on the grounds that the subject-matter of the patent is not patentable, that the invention is insufficiently disclosed, or that the content of the patent extends beyond the content of the ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fujitsu's Application
''Fujitsu's Application'' 997EWCA Civ 1174 is a 6 March 1997 judgment by the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. The judges' decision was to confirm the refusal of a patent by the United Kingdom Patent Office and by Mr Justice Laddie in the High Court. Lord Justice Aldous heard the appeal before the Court of Appeal. Facts Fujitsu's claimed invention was a new tool for modelling crystal structures on a computer. A scientist wishing to investigate what would result if he made a new material consisting of a combination of two existing compounds would enter data representing those compounds and how they should be joined into the computer. The computer then automatically generated and displayed the new structure using the data supplied. Previously, the same effect could only have been achieved by assembling plastic models by hand - a time-consuming task. Discussion * UK courts should look to the decisions of the European Patent Office for guidance in interpreting the exclusions. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patent Attorney
A patent attorney is an attorney who has the specialized qualifications necessary for representing clients in obtaining patents and acting in all matters and procedures relating to patent law and practice, such as filing patent applications and oppositions to granted patents. Terminology The term "patent attorney" is used differently in different countries and thus may or may not require the same legal qualifications as a general legal practitioner. The titles patent agent and patent lawyer are also used in some jurisdictions. In some jurisdictions, the terms are interchangeable; in others, the latter is used only if the person is qualified as a lawyer. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the International Federation of Intellectual Property Attorneys (FICPI) propose since 2022 a Patent Drafting Training Program to enhance the knowledge and skills of professionals, such as patent agents, who wish to strengthen their patent drafting skills. Role A study ana ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest extant institutions in the world, its origins lie in the early 11th century and the emergence of bicameralism in the 13th century. In contrast to the House of Commons, membership of the Lords is not generally acquired by Elections in the United Kingdom, election. Most members are Life peer, appointed for life, on either a political or non-political basis. House of Lords Act 1999, Hereditary membership was limited in 1999 to 92 List of excepted hereditary peers, excepted hereditary peers: 90 elected through By-elections to the House of Lords, internal by-elections, plus the Earl Marshal and Lord Great Chamberlain as members Ex officio member, ''ex officio''. No members directly inherit their seats any longer. The House of Lords also includes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
