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Topic: Software patents under US Patent law

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Software patents under the European Patent Convention

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	Software patent - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Patents cover the underlying methodologies embodied in a given piece of software, independent of the particular language or code that the software is written in.
		Substantive law regarding the patentability of software and computer-implemented inventions, and case law interpreting the legal provisions, are different under different jurisdictions.
		Additionally, under the so-called doctrine of equivalents and its analogues, a patent that on its face does not appear to require software can be infringed in certain circumstances if software is used as an equivalent of (that is, a substitute for) a non-software element, making it even more difficult to draw the boundary.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Software_patent (3057 words)

	Software patent debate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		Patent examiners are evaluated based on the number of cases they dispose of, not whether or not they issue a notice of allowance.
		The Patent Reform Act of 2005 proposes to close this loophole and force the publication of all US patent applications 18 months after they are filed.
		For a software or computer-implemented inventions to be patented, it needs to be disclosed in a manner sufficient clear and complete for the man skilled in the art to reduce it to practice.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Software_patent_debate (4213 words)

	Patent (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a government to an inventor or applicant for a limited amount of time (normally 20 years from the filing date).
		Under US law, the species may still be patentable if they produce results that are unexpectedly different from those of other previously known members of the genus.
		Under US law, this is not a question of obviousness since a claim to the genus lacks novelty as the species is known.
	patent.kiwiki.homeip.net (3544 words)

	Patent Law (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		Diehr, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the PTO to grant a patent on an invention, even though a substantial part of the invention consisted of a computer program which used well-known formulae for calculating the time when rubber was cured and the mold could be opened.
		The Patent Law Treaty (PLT) is a patent law multilateral treaty concluded on June 1, 2000 in Geneva, Switzerland, by 53 States and one intergovernmental organization, the European Patent Organisation.
		The first patent law was a Venetian Statute of 1474 in which the Republic of Venice issued a decree by which new and inventive devices, once they had been put into practice, had to be communicated to the Republic in order to obtain legal protection against potential infringers.
	www.wwwtln.com /finance/141/patent-law.html (823 words)

	Patent Lawyer (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		Patents which qualify as software patents according to some definitions of the expression "software patent" have been granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) since the '80s.
		The expression "software patent" is however not used by the European Patent Office and its Boards of Appeal.
		This is a fallacy since US Patent 5,960,411 entitled "Method and system for placing a purchase order via a communications network" has not equivalent in Europe.
	www.wwwtln.com /finance/141/patent-lawyer.html (477 words)

	[No title] (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		In the period 1945-1980, it was generally believed that patent law did not pertain to software.
		An algorithm is an abstract concept unrelated to physical laws of the universe.
		Therefore the idea of passing laws that say some kinds of algorithms belong to mathematics and some do not strikes me as absurd as the 19th century attempts of the Indiana legislature to pass a law that the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter is exactly 3, not approximately 3.1416.
	lpf.ai.mit.edu /Patents/knuth-to-pto.txt (761 words)

	League for Programming Freedom - Against Software Patents (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		Patent examiners are often ill-prepared to evaluate software patent applications to determine if they represent techniques that are widely known or obvious--both of which are grounds for rejection.
		English patents covering customary graphics techniques, including airbrushing, stenciling, and combination of two images under control of a third one, were recently upheld in court, despite the testimony of the pioneers of the field that they had developed these techniques years before.
		Patents are most frequently classified by end results, such as "converting iron to steel;" but many patents cover algorithms whose use in a program is entirely independent of the purpose of the program.
	lpf.ai.mit.edu /Patents/against-software-patents.html (4933 words)

	The Monster Arrives: Software Patent Lawsuits Against Open Source Developers (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		But the patent system has evolved into something useless for the purpose of disclosure, and engineers are now instructed to avoid looking at other companies' patents because if the victim of a patent lawsuit can be shown to have known of a patent, the award to the patent holder is tripled.
		Software is unique in that it is protected by both copyright and patents, other industries have one or the other and that is sufficient for them.
		Evidently, "someone" has patented the use of an address comparator in hardware to set breakpoints, and perhaps the use of firmware to report them...and the result is that this company cannot openly use the technique, but must keep their use of it a secret.
	technocrat.net /d/2006/6/30/5032 (3502 words)

	Rights Granted Under U.S. Patent Law (BitLaw)
		Patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office confer upon the patent holder "the right to exclude others from making, using or selling the invention throughout the United States" and its territories and possessions.
		The exact nature of the right conferred by a U.S. patent must be carefully distinguished, and the key is in the words "right to exclude." Any person is ordinarily free to make, use, or sell anything she/he pleases, and a grant from the Government is not necessary.
		Since the patent does not grant the right to make, use, or sell the invention, the patent holder's own right to do so is dependent upon the rights of others and whatever general laws might be applicable.
	www.bitlaw.com /patent/rights.html (600 words)

	Software Patents vs Parliamentary Democracy (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		Patent administration officials have used the pretext of TRIPs adaptation to suddenly, in a unilateral administrative act, declare software patents valid by law, subject to Parliament approval in the first half of 2005.
		The Community Patent plan doesn't even mention the subject of software, although, make no mistake about it, software patentability is one of the main drivers of these plans.
		Instead of directly imposing software patentability, the proposal is now to remove the patent system even further from legislative review by any democratically elected parliament.
	swpat.ffii.org (858 words)

	Knight and Associates - About Us
		With several pending U.S. utility patent applications claiming fictional storylines, Andrew Knight is the first to attempt to obtain utility patent protection on a fictional plot.
		A Registered Patent Agent, Andrew Knight has been drafting and prosecuting patent applications since April, 2001, both for himself and for two of the most well-known, prestigious patent firms in the nation.
		The connection between patent law and unique fictional storylines necessary to conceive of Storyline Patents may never have been made if Andrew Knight did not occasionally dabble in fiction.
	www.plotpatents.com /about_us.htm (801 words)

	New Scientist Breaking News - European parliament rejects software patent law (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		A controversial proposal to allow software to be patented was overwhelmingly voted down by the European Union on Wednesday, ending one of the biggest legislative battles in the EU for years.
		It would have prevented anyone from writing a new program to perform a task for which patented software already existed, unless the patent holder granted a license.
		While the prospect of the new law was welcomed by big technology companies, and opposed by small companies, it was particularly worrying to "open source" programmers, whose software relies on the free exchange of ideas and code.
	www.newscientist.com /article.ns?id=dn7637 (337 words)

	AlterSlash ~ the unofficial SlashDot digest
		The various Terrorism laws permit confinement without trial of foreign nationals, and have started to be used to permit lengthier detention of citizens.
		The laws are still administered by an independent judiciary with a strong tradition of individual liberties, and abuse seems uncommon and is remarked on and sometimes overturned.
		Bravoc writes to tell us RTI International is reporting that a group of researchers are testing a “paint-on antenna” for high-altitude airships.
	alterslash.org (9186 words)

	EFF: Homepage
		A U.S. District Court judge in New York gave final approval Monday to a settlement for music fans who purchased Sony BMG music CDs containing flawed copy protection programs.
		However, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker said the evidence—three documents that ATandT alleges are proprietary and contain the company's trade secrets—will be kept under seal for now.
		at U.S. District Court in San Francisco, courtroom 6.
	www.eff.org (1730 words)

	Software Patents vs Parliamentary Democracy (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		[2006-05-12] EU Commission proposes to criminalise European software industry
		EU Software Patent Directive: Parliament's vs Council's Version
		FFII interests and the EU Software Patent Directive
	swpat.ffii.org /index.en.html (858 words)

	Software Patent News (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03)
		2006-07-04 US Bizjournals: Unica, NetRatings patent dispute settled
		2006-06-16 US Techdirt: Investigating The Obviousness Of Software Patents
		2006-06-13 US Forbes: Kallasvuo's Nokia In New Patent Spat With Qualcomm
	wiki.ffii.org /SwpatcninoEn (3561 words)

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