欧州 ソフトウェアの特許性（Symbian)

ソフトウェアの特許性に関するUK-IPOのプレスリリースです。
10月にSymbian特許に関する控訴審の判決が英国でありましたが、この先はEPO President Alison Brimelowの質問に対するEBoAの回答が出るのを見守るとのことです。

Patentability of computer programs, recent Court of Appeal judgment and questions raised by the President of the European Patent Office

1. On 8 October 2008 the Court of Appeal upheld a High Court judgment which had overturned an earlier decision of the UK Intellectual Property Office (UK-IPO) in the case of Symbian’s Patent Application. The UK-IPO originally refused this application because it considered that it related to nothing more than a computer program.

4. In the light of this development, the UK-IPO will not seek to appeal the Symbian judgment further. The UK-IPO agrees with the Court of Appeal in that it would now be premature to seek a view from the House of Lords when European practice is likely to be settled shortly by a decision of the EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal. The UK-IPO will have an opportunity to submit observations to the Enlarged Board of Appeal on the questions put to it. In order to inform any such observations the UK-IPO will undertake a study to determine the economic impact of patenting computer programs.