Open Thoughts

Software patentable in Germany

Posted by Cheng Soon Ong on May 21, 2010

It seems that the highest German appeals court in matters of civil and criminal law overruled the country's highest patent-specialized court, deciding to uphold a software patent. More analysis is available at the blog foss patents. The original German PDF of the ruling is also available as text.

From foss patents:

  • After a landmark court ruling, the German perspective on the validity of software patents is now closer than ever to that of the US.
  • Basically, Germany has now had its own Bilski case -- with the worst possible outcome for the opponents of software patents.
  • Recently, the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office upheld that approach to software patents as well, effectively accepting that a computer program stored on a medium must be patentable in principle.
  • Defense strategies such as the Defensive Patent License are needed now more than ever.

Defensive Patent License is being proposed by two professors from Berkeley.

Comments

Cheng Soon Ong (on June 8, 2010, 22:27:33)

There is a documentary that is based on a series of interviews regarding the Bilski case.

http://patentabsurdity.com/

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