Mr N.J. Hollebeek
| Organisaties | Regulering | Richtlijn | Onderwerpen |
| Landen | Casus | Publikaties | Overige |
The Council of Ministers has reached political agreement on a paper which contains alternative suggestions to the amendments on the directive "on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions" passed by the European Parliament (EP). In contrast to the EP version, the council version permits unlimited patentability and patent enforceability. Following the current version, "computer-implemented" algorithms and business methods would be inventions in the sense of patent law, and the publication of a functional description of a patented idea would constitute a patent infringement. Protocols and data formats could be patented and would then not be freely usable even for interoperability purposes. These implications might not be apparent to the casual reader. Here we try to decipher the misleading language of the proposal and explain its implications
The Vrijschrift.org Foundation and the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure FFII are affiliates. They share concerns about the freedom of information and the future of the public domain
| 20-feb-2002 | Voorstel voor een richtlijn van het Europees Parlement en de Raad betreffende de Octrooieerbaarheid van in computers geïmplementeerde uitvindingen COM/2002/0092 def. - COD 2002/0047 Publicatieblad Nr. C 151 E van 25/06/2002 blz. 0129 - 0131 | Oorspronkelijk voorstel |
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Artikel 2 Definities Voor de toepassing van deze richtlijn gelden de volgende definities: (a) "in computers geïmplementeerde uitvinding": uitvinding voor de werking waarvan het gebruik van een computer, computernetwerk of een ander programmeerbaar apparaat nodig is en die een of meer op het eerste gezicht nieuwe kenmerken heeft die geheel of gedeeltelijk door middel van een computerprogramma of computerprogramma's worden gerealiseerd; (b) "technische bijdrage": bijdrage tot de stand van de techniek op een technisch gebied die voor een deskundige niet voor de hand ligt Artikel 3 In computers geïmplementeerde uitvindingen als een gebied van de technologie De lidstaten zorgen ervoor dat een in computers geïmplementeerde uitvinding wordt beschouwd als behorende tot een gebied van de technologie Artikel 4 Voorwaarden voor octrooieerbaarheid 1. De lidstaten zorgen ervoor dat een in computers geïmplementeerde uitvinding octrooieerbaar is op voorwaarde dat ze vatbaar is voor toepassing op het gebied van de nijverheid, nieuw is en op uitvinderswerkzaamheid berust 2. De lidstaten zorgen ervoor dat een voorwaarde opdat een in computers geïmplementeerde uitvinding op uitvinderswerkzaamheid berust, is dat deze een technische bijdrage levert 3. De technische bijdrage wordt beoordeeld door het bepalen van het verschil tussen de omvang van de in haar geheel beschouwde octrooiconclusie, waarvan elementen zowel technische als niet-technische kenmerken kunnen omvatten, en de stand van de techniek | ||
| 24-sep-2003 | Geamendeerde softwareoctrooi-richtlijn | Door het Europese Parlement geamendeerd voorstel |
| 17-mar-2004 | Consolidated/annotated text of the proposed Directive, which takes into account discussions in the Working Party on 2 March 2004 [pdf] | Consolidated text presented by the Irish Presidency |
| 18-nov-2004 | Gemeenschappelijk standpunt door de Raad vastgesteld met het oog op de aanneming van de richtlijn van het Europees Parlement en de Raad betreffende de octrooieerbaarheid van in computers geïmplementeerde uitvindingen [pdf] | Gemeenschappelijk standpunt van de Raad |
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Artikel 2 Definities Voor de toepassing van deze richtlijn gelden de volgende definities: (a) "in computers geïmplementeerde uitvinding": een uitvinding voor de werking waarvan het gebruik van een computer, computernetwerk of een ander programmeerbaar apparaat nodig is en die een of meer die geheel of gedeeltelijk door middel van een computerprogramma of computerprogramma's worden gerealiseerd; (b) "technische bijdrage": een bijdrage tot de stand van de techniek op een gebied van de technologie die nieuw is en voor een deskundige niet voor de hand ligt De technische bijdrage wordt beoordeeld door het bepalen van het verschil tussen de stand van de techniek en de die technische kenmerken moet omvatten, ongeacht of deze vergezeld gaan van niet-technische kenmerken Artikel 3 Voorwaarden voor octrooieerbaarheid Om octrooieerbaar te zijn, moet een in computers geïmplementeerde uitvinding industrieel toepasbaar zijn, nieuw zijn en op uitvinderswerkzaamheid berusten Om op uitvinderswerkzaamheid te berusten, moet een in computers geïmplementeerde uitvinding een technische bijdrage leveren | ||
The workshops were held in response to concerns raised about the definition
of Technical Contribution, at a meeting chaired by Lord Sainsbury on 14th
December 2004.
Over 550 people registered to attend one of 13 workshops held around the UK.
Of those who registered approximately 300 attended on the day. Around 55%
of attendees were software developers, 35% legal professionals and 10% from
academia, the media and other organisations.
When registering, participants were given the opportunity to suggest a
definition of technical contribution. Over 200 suggestions were received and
11 selected for use in the workshops.
18 case studies were prepared by The Patent Office. These reflected 9
inventions that were considered to be patentable and 9 that were considered to
be unpatentable under current law.
At each workshop participants were asked to test 4 definitions against 5 case
studies and to record their decision on whether the definition meant the case
study was patentable or not. In addition to the definition in the European
Union's common position a definition provided by the Foundation for a Free
Information Infrastructure (FFII) was also used at each workshop. All the
definitions and all the case studies were used over the course of the workshops
It is clear from the workshops that none of the definitions as they stood:
• had wholehearted or even widespread support;
• tallied closely with the status quo when applied by the attendees at the
workshops (ie they would all make a significant change to the
boundary between what is and is not patentable);
• was unambiguous (ie gave a near-unanimous answer in most cases)
The use of "controllable forces" or "physical forces" introduces further
ambiguity into any definition of technical contribution.
Participants favoured those definitions which contained specific exclusions.
The workshops have not identified a definition of 'technical contribution' that
generates little ambiguity and closely matches the status quo. However we
have identified elements that it might be possible to build on to get closer to
achieving the required result.
We feel the workshops have also generated a much wider appreciation of the
issues and difficulties, and a better understanding of what lies behind the range
of views that have been expressed
Der große Druck auf EU-Kommission und Rat, die Softwarepatentrichtlinie gegen alle Widerstände durchzuziehen, kommt nicht von Microsoft und der Softwareindustrie. Die treibenden Kräfte sind DaimlerChrysler, Siemens, Nokia, Philips und andere Hardware-Größen.
90 Prozent aller in Deutschland angemeldeten Patente stammen von wenigen, multinationalen Großkonzernen. Sie sind die Einzigen, die von einer Ausweitung des Patentrechts profitieren
This document explains, sentence by sentence, how the Council proposal from 18 May 2004 for a "Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions" allows pure software and business method patents, using a granted European patent on a computerised business method as example. Since the Council version simply codifies the existing European Patent Office practice, it is quite straightforward to apply it to this granted patent
Although the results from the 13 workshops held across the UK have yet to be collated, the conclusion from one of the six workshops held in London was clear - the current criteria for deciding whether a patent should be granted is so vague that almost all software patents are likely to be granted
Iets maakt inbreuk op een octrooi als het voorzien is van alle elementen van een (onafhankelijke) claim, of als het alle stappen doet die in de claim opgesomd staan. Het is niet vereist dat aan de definitie van alle claims wordt voldaan, eentje is al voldoende. Wel moet het vermeend inbreukmakende product voldoen aan alle elementen uit die ene claim
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| EP0807891 | Stateless shopping cart for the web | Sun Microsystems | Levine, et al. | 19-nov-1997 | G06F17/30 |
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| 5,724,424 | Digital active advertising | Open Market (Divine) | Gifford | 3-mrt-1998 | 705/79 |
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| Application # | Title | Assignee | Inventors | Date | Class |
| 20050165757 | Method and apparatus for ranking web page search results | Broder | 28-jul-2005 | 707/3 | |
| 20050160457 | Annotating programs for automatic summary generations | Microsoft Corporation | Rui, et al. | 21-jul-2005 | 725/45 |
| 20050144052 | Profiling item sellers to inform item purchasing decisions and build trust in a multiple-seller marketplace | Harding, et al. | 30-jun-2005 | 705/7 | |
| 20050136907 | System and method for creating a note related to a phone call | Microsoft Corporation | Pappalardo, et al. | 23-jun-2005 | 455/418 |
| 20050120302 | Adding and removing white space from a document | Microsoft Corporation | Altman, et al. | 2-jun-2005 | 715/530 |
| 20050091671 | Programming interface for a computer platform | Microsoft Corporation | Deem, et al. | 28-apr-2005 | 719/328 |
| 20050071741 | Information retrieval based on historical data | (Google) | Anurag Acharya, et al. | 31-mrt-2005 | 715/500 |
| 20050033803 | Server architecture and methods for persistently storing and serving event data | (Amazon) | Van Vleet, et al. | 10-feb-2005 | 709/203 |
| 20040230959 | IS NOT operator | (Microsoft Corporation) | Vick, et al. | 18-nov-2004 | 717/140 |
| 20040210818 | Word-processing document stored in a single XML file that may be manipulated by applications that understand XML | Microsoft Corporation | Jones, et al. | 21-okt-2004 | 715/500 |
| 20030101413 | Smart links | (Microsoft Corporation) | Klein, et al. | 29-mei-2003 | 715/513 |
| 20020178089 | Coordinating delivery of a gift | (Amazon) | Bezos, et al. | 28-nov-2002 | 705/26 |
| 20020007309 | Method and system for providing electronic commerce actions based on semantically labeled strings | Microsoft Corporation | Reynar | 17-jan-2002 | 705/14 |
These pages provide an introduction to IBM's licensing practices as well as a portfolio of patents and technologies currently available for licensing
In three decisions between 1999 and 2001, the German Supreme Court (BGH) redefined the meaning of technicality in the context of computer program inventions
Amtliche Leitsätze:
1. Die Beantwortung der Frage, ob eine auf ein Programm für Datenverarbeitungsanlagen gerichtete Patentanmeldung die nach § 1 Abs. 1 PatG vorausgesetzte Technizität aufweist, erfordert eine wertende Betrachtung des im Patentanspruch definierten Gegenstandes.
2. Betrifft der Lösungsvorschlag einen Zwischenschritt im Prozeß, der mit der Herstellung von (Silicium-)Chips endet, so kann er vom Patentschutz nicht deshalb ausgenommen sein, weil er auf den unmittelbaren Einsatz von beherrschbaren Naturkräften verzichtet und die Möglichkeit der Fertigung tauglicher Erzeugnisse anderweitig durch auf technischen Überlegungen beruhende Erkenntnisse voranzubringen sucht (Abweichung von BGHZ 115, 23, 30 = GRUR 1992, 36 - "Chinesische Schriftzeichen")
A computer program product is not excluded from patentability under Article 52(2) and (3) EPC if,
when it is run on a computer, it produces a further technical effect
which goes beyond the "normal" physical interactions between program (software) and computer (hardware)"
1. When a patent application as filed discloses explicitly a method for producing a particular effect and a plurality of mathematical expressions and pulse sequences corresponding to a suitable program, and when it also discloses implicitly a programmable apparatus by reference to a prior art document, such an apparatus when suitably programmed for carrying out the method for producing said particular effect is considered as disclosed in the application as filed in the sense of Article 123(2) EPC.
2. However, it is only this specific combination which is disclosed and not an apparatus for carrying out said method or for producing said particular effect, such an apparatus being also suitable for carrying out other methods or for producing other effects. Therefore, claims directed to such an apparatus for carrying out the method or for producing said particular effect are not allowable since a patent having such claims would contain subject-matter which extends beyond the content of the application as filed (Article 123(2) EPC)
1. The EPC does not prohibit the patenting of inventions consisting of a mix of technical and non-technical features.
2. In deciding whether a claim relates to a computer program as such it is not necessary to give a relative weighting to its technical and non-technical features. If the invention defined in the claim uses technical means, it can be patented provided it meets the requirements of Articles 52-57 EPC
1. Having technical character is an implicit requirement of the EPC to be met by an invention in order to be an invention within the meaning of Article 52(1)EPC. (following decisions T 1173/97 and T 935/97)
2. Methods only involving economic concepts and practices of doing business are not inventions within the meaning of Article 52(1) EPC. A feature of a method which concerns the use of technical means for a purely non-technical purpose and/or for processing purely non-technical information does not necessarily confer a technical character to such a method.
3. An apparatus constituting a physical entity or concrete product, suitable for performing or supporting an economic activity, is an invention within the meaning of Article 52(1) EPC.
4. There is no basis in the EPC for distinguishing between "new features" of an invention and features of that invention which are known from the prior art when examining whether the invention concerned may be considered to be an invention within the meaning of Article 52(1) EPC. Thus there is no basis in the EPC for applying this so-called contribution approach for this purpose. (following decisions T 1173/97 and T 935/97)
I. An invention comprising functional features implemented by software (computer programs) is not excluded from patentability under Article 52(2)(c), (3) EPC, if technical considerations concerning particulars of the solution of the problem the invention solves are required in order to carry out that same invention.
Such technical considerations lend a technical nature to the invention in that they imply a technical problem to be solved by (implicit) technical features.
An invention of this kind does not pertain to a computer program as such under Article 52(3).
II. Non-exclusion from patentability cannot be destroyed by an additional feature which as such would itself be excluded, as in the present case features referring to management systems and methods which may fall under the "methods for doing business" excluded from patentability under Article 52(2)(c), (3) EPC (following established case law according to which a mix of features, some of which are excluded under Article 52(2) and (3) EPC and some of which are not so excluded, may be patentable (in contrast to recent case law concerning inventions excluded by Article 52(4) EPC, cf. T 820/92 according to which one feature excluded under Article 52(4) EPC suffices for the whole claim to be excluded from patentability))
I. Even if the idea underlying an invention may be considered to reside in a mathematical method a claim directed to a technical process in which the method is used does not seek protection for the mathematical method as such.
II. A computer of known type set up to operate according to a new program cannot be considered as forming part of the state of the art as defined by Article 54(2) EPC.
III. A claim directed to a technical process which process is carried out under the control of a program (whether by means of hardware or software), cannot be regarded as relating to a computer program as such.
IV. A claim which can be considered as being directed to a computer set up to operate in accordance with a specified program (whether by means of hardware or software) for controlling or carrying out a technical process cannot be regarded as relating to a computer program as such
Along with many other computer scientists, I would like to ask you to reconsider the current policy of giving patents for computational processes
Once the province of a nuts-and-bolts world, patents are now being applied to thoughts and ideas in cyberspace. It's a ridiculous phenomenon, and it could kill e-commerce
Linux creator Linus Torvalds says that nontechnical issues such as software patents constitute the single biggest threat to the future success of the open-source OS
In 1998, The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals recognized a right to patent business methods, provided they produce a useful, concrete and tangible result. State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group, 149 F.3d 1368 (Fed. Cir. 1998). Shortly after the State Street Bank decision, the U.S. Patent Office began granting e-commerce patents, which protect methods of buying or selling something over the Internet
Laatst gewijzigd 27 februari 2006