European Software Directives And European Software Patents

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this monograph provides a survey and analysis of the rules concerning intellectual property rights in European Software Directives and European Software Patents. It covers every type of intellectual property right in depth – copyright and neighbouring rights, patents, utility models, trademarks, trade names, industrial designs, plant variety protection, chip protection, trade secrets, and confidential information. Particular attention is paid throughout to recent developments and trends. The analysis approaches each right in terms of its sources in law and in legislation, and proceeds to such legal issues as subject matter of protection, conditions of protection, ownership, transfer of rights, licences, scope of exclusive rights, limitations, exemptions, duration of protection, infringement, available remedies, and overlapping with other intellectual property rights. The book provides a clear overview of intellectual property legislation and policy, and at the same time offers practical guidance on which sound preliminary decisions may be based. Lawyers representing parties with interests in European Software Directives and European Software Patents will welcome this very useful guide, and academics and researchers will appreciate its value in the study of comparative intellectual property law.

The computer program exclusion from Article 52 of the European Patent Convention (EPC) proved impossible to uphold as industry moved over to digital technology, and the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Organisation (EPO) felt emboldened to circumvent the EPC in Vicom by creating the legal fiction of 'technical effect'. This 'engineer's solution' emphasised that protection should be available for a device, a situation which has led to software and business methods being protected throughout Europe when the form of application, rather than the substance, is acceptable. Since the Article 52 exclusion has effectively vanished, this text examines what makes examination of software invention difficult and what leads to such energetic opposition to protecting inventive activity in the software field. Leith advocates a more programming-centric approach, which recognises that software examination requires different strategies from that of other technical fields.

There has been continued debate in Europe over whether to change the patentability of software - or so-called computer-implemented inventions - and to follow the US model of allowing software patents. The European debate has shown a severe lack of empirical analysis on the possible impact of software patenting that goes beyond interest-driven rhetoric. This book seeks to address this shortcoming by taking a two-fold approach. Firstly, a survey of German software companies provides a representative overview of both general strategies to protect inventions and opinions regarding the future IPR regime in the context of innovation strategies - including the importance and use of Open Source software. Secondly, a series of case studies illustrate the varying impacts that patents and other protection strategies can have in specific contexts. This book provides both a theoretical overview of the economic impacts and policy implications of software patents, and an empirical foundation upon which to base a discussion on how to shape the intellectual property regime for software.

Not so Patently Obvious provides a brief history of patenting software in the U.S. and Europe and the Trouble with Patents in the Digital Age. When the software industry was young, software patents did not exist. The USPTO didn't issue its first software patent until 1981. Since then, tens of thousands of software patents have been issued on both sides of the Atlantic. Anyone can be an infringer, and many are. Microsoft is reported to be, at any given time, defending themselves against 30 to 35 patent infringement lawsuits. It has been suggested that the Linux kernel might infringe as many as 283 U.S. patents. Blockbuster awards, such as the $450 Microsoft was ordered to pay a tiny patent holding company named Eolas, are fundamentally changing the way the software industry does business. Economists, politicians, scientists, academics, legal experts, engineers, and computer programmers are all asking if this proliferation of software patents makes any sense. There is a growing unease that the patent system has derailed and is going to take the software industry off the tracks with it. At the same time it is increasingly clear that without patent protection, it is impossible to protect the competitive advantages that result from technical innovations in software technology. These two points of view collided last year in the European Parliament's debate over the European Commission's Directive for Computer Implemented Inventions. A bitter and implacable row erupted over the Commission's Directive which was defeated with both sides claiming victory. This book steps away from the rancour of the debate over software patents and takes a fresh look at the issue. Eric Stasik, author of Patent or Perish, and founder of the patent engineering firm Patent08 (www.patent08.com), takes the reader through a brief history of software patents, explains some of the problems this has created, and illustrates why society still struggles with what Thomas Jefferson described as "the difficulty of drawing a line between the things which are worth the public embarrassment of an exclusive patent, and those which are not." As Jefferson realized, the answer is not so patently obvious.

Strategic Patent Planning for Software Companies looks at the current patent and licensing strategies used by successful companies that develop and market software. This book discusses the current status of international patent protection as regards computer-implemented inventions (CII), explains why copyright is inadequate, and describes how patents are being used by Microsoft and the Apache Software Foundation to support a wide range of business objectives. Over the past decade extensions in the scope of patent protection to include computer-implemented inventions have generated controversy, concern, and a great deal of hyperbole. In Europe the debate over "software patents" has been bitter and rancorous and the directive to harmonize European patent law with EPO practice faces an uncertain future. The business approach of this book is highlighted by a comprehensive listing of strategic business objectives which patents can be used to support. You will discover how patents have become uniquely versatile business tools. By examining the patent strategies employed by others, you can better understand the needs of your own company and how you too can use patents to gain and maintain competitive advantages.

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this monograph provides a survey and analysis of the rules concerning intellectual property law in the European Patent Convention (EPC), following generally the structure of the legal provisions, with a special focus on the patentability and patenting procedure. The monograph addresses not only the Convention’s core business, but also the work of its coordinating and implementing bodies, the European Patent Organization (EPOrg) and the European Patent Office (EPO). The concise presentation and interpretation of all relevant texts includes those considered “additional” but which, according to article 164(1) EPC, are in fact integral parts of the Convention – the Implementing Regulation and the Protocols on the Interpretation of Article 69 EPC and on Centralisation, Recognition, Privileges and Immunities, and the Staff Complement. Particular attention is paid throughout to issues arising from the relationship between the EPC and other relevant international and European laws and to recent developments and trends, especially in connection with the unitary patent system. The monograph also includes limited but relevant discussion of the historical development of the bases of the European patent system up to the success story of today. The analysis approaches each right in terms of its sources in law and in legislation, and proceeds to such legal issues as subject matter of protection, conditions and scope of protection, ownership, transfer of rights, licenses, scope of exclusive rights, limitations, exemptions, duration of protection, and infringement. A broad selection of EPO case law clarifies in the most adequate way the substance of the European patent system, as directly originating from it. The book provides a clear overview of intellectual property legislation and policy, and at the same time offers practical guidance on which sound preliminary decisions may be based. Lawyers and patent attorneys representing parties with interests in the European Patent Convention will welcome this very useful guide, and academics and researchers will appreciate its value in the study of comparative intellectual property law.

The first few years of the 90s have been extremely important for the development of software copyright both in the United States and Europe. In the United States, major decisions redefined the idea/expression dichotomy in different cases. In Europe, countries are still in the process of harmonizing their national laws with the EC Software Directive. The study compares traditional and evolving copyright standards as applied to computer programs on both sides of the Atlantic. It may well be said that recent case law has brought America closer to Europe. On the other hand, American experience turns out to be a useful guideline for distinguishing between the concepts of idea and expression in the sense of the software directive.

In this book, specialists from each Member State of the EC describe the copyright provisions of their country (both in general and in respect to software), and provide a detailed description of the way in which their country has enacted or intends to enact the Directive. Most of the contributions contain a translation of the relevant statutory provisions.