Skip Navigation


International Journal of Law and Information Technology Advance Access originally published online on April 13, 2006
International Journal of Law and Information Technology 2006 14(3):257-309; doi:10.1093/ijlit/eai031
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
14/3/257    most recent
eai031v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Grosche, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

International Journal of Law and Information Technology Vol. 14 No. 3 © Oxford University Press 2006; all rights reserved

Software Patents – Boon or Bane for Europe?

Andreas Grosche*

* LL.M. (Strathclyde), Mag. rer. publ. (Speyer), Rechtsassessor, Dipl.-Jur., M.B.L.T. (Mannheim). PhD candidate at the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer. E-mail: strathclyde{at}grosche.com. http://www.Andreas.Grosche.com#IJLIT

Software patents have been making the headlines recently. In the EU, after the European Parliament has rejected a controversial proposed ‘Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions’ in July 2005, the debate is far from over: The Commission continues to pursue policies expanding the reach of intellectual property rights, while the controversies have exposed issues that call for a more cautious approach, demanding justification for further extension of IP – difficult to provide in general, and probably impossible with respect to computer software, as the evolution of information technology reveals fundamental incompatibilities with the patent system: Thorough analysis of the historical development of IP as well as that of computers and their programs, both as a science and with its economic implications as an industry, combined with the international comparison of experiences with (and alternatives to) patents covering software, provide convincing reasons to keep patent law within its established confines supported by the European Patent Convention, separating patentable subject matter from unpatentable mental acts, business methods and mathematics.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.