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Appeals body ducks question of software patentability
http://www.techworld.com.au/article/346352/appeals_body_ducks_question_software_patentability?fp=2&fpid=1&rid=1
EPO rules own software patents review inadmissible
,----[ Quote ]
| An unexpected, good result: after more than a
| year and a half of review (referral G3/08),
| the EPOâs Enlarged Board of Appeal has
| declared that the four questions posed were
| all inadmissible. The patent office is thus
| does not have the power to decide for itself
| whether or not software should be patentable.
`----
http://news.swpat.org/2010/05/epo-patents-review-inadmissible/
Software Patents in Europe-- G 3/08
,----[ Quote ]
| If you believe that no news is good news,
| then 3/08 is wonderful news because the 61-
| page decision found the referral inadmissible
| and, therefore, declined to reach the merits.
| It's an interesting (if non-committal) read,
| and some of the questions raised are
| fascinating. Consider the following: "Must
| a claimed feature cause a technical effect on
| a physical entity in the real world in order
| to contribute to the technical character of
| the claim?" Great question--but the EPO
| Enlarged Court of Appeal declined to consider
| this one and all of the others.
`----
http://prawfsblawg.blogs.com/prawfsblawg/2010/05/software-patents-in-europe-g-308.html
Patenting by Small-Entities
,----[ Quote ]
| The number of small-shop innovators continues
| to dwindle. In a sample of recently issued
| patents,* only 20% claim âsmall entityâ
| status. Of those, 30% (6% of the total) are
| held by the original inventors.** According
| to the PTO Rules, large universities and non-
| profits still qualify as for the small entity
| price-break so long as the patents-in-
| question have not be assigned or licensed to
| a non-qualifying entity. At least 12% of the
| small entity patents are assigned to
| universities or non-profits. These small
| entities include multi-billion-dollar
| operations including Battelle Energy
| Alliance, California Institute of Technology,
| Princeton University, and the Korean
| government funded ETRI. The remaining small
| entity patents are largely held by companies
| and partnerships such as Audible Magic,
| PixArt Imaging, and Alverix.
`----
http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2010/05/patenting-by-small-entities.html
Recent:
EU software patent issue goes to appeals body
,----[ Quote ]
| Alison Brimelow, president of the European Patent Office, has referred the
| deeply contentious question about how to assess the patentability of
| software-related inventions to her office's top appeals body, the enlarged
| board of appeal (EBoA), the EPO said late Friday.
|
| [....]
|
| In November 2006 Neal Macrossan, an Australian entrepreneur software
| developer, lost an appeal against the U.K. Patent Office's rejection of his
| patent application. He wanted patent protection for a method for producing
| documents "for use in the formation of a corporate entity using a data
| processing system."
|
| On the same day the U.K. Court of Appeal threw out a challenge against a
| patent owned by IT company Aerotel for a computer program that created a new
| network infrastructure for a group of computers.
|
| The three judges presiding over the cases considered the first a business
| method, and therefore unpatentable, while the second was seen as a patentable
| hardware change. Another U.K. judge called for a referral to the EPO's top
| appeals body to clarify the law concerning software patentability.
`----
http://www.nytimes.com/external/idg/2008/10/24/24idg-EU-software-pat.html
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