Following a recent consultation on the patentability of software
patents and business methods, e-Minister Patricia Hewitt yesterday
announced that the Government wants no significant change to the
patentability of software and wants to continue the prohibition on
business method patents.
The announcement follows reports that the European Commission is
divided on the question of whether or not to open the door to
software patents in European law. At present, software as such
cannot be patented. However, software patents can often be obtained
by exploiting an exception that allows patents for software having
a “technical effect.” In the US, software and business method
patents are common.
Ms Hewitt called for “urgent European action to clarify” the
law. She added:
"Some people who responded to our
consultation favour making it easier to patent software and others
see patents as a threat to development of new software. Our key
principle is that patents should be for technological innovations.
So a program for a new machine tool should be patentable but a
non-technological innovation, such as grammar-checking software for
a word-processor, should not be. The majority of those who
responded agree with the Government and oppose patents for ways of
doing business on the internet."
Consumer Affairs Minister Dr Kim Howells said:
"Patent law is harmonised under the European
Patent Convention, and we shall be recommending the conclusions we
have reached to our European partners. The European Commission is
currently evaluating its own consultation on software patents, and
we shall be pressing them for an early Directive which embodies our
conclusions, and with which the Convention can then be aligned.
"In particular we shall press for
clarification of European patent law to put an end to uncertainty
about what software can and cannot be patented. The consultation
showed that at present there is confusion, and that that is
damaging."
