European patents for software, E-commerce and business model inventions ?
It is commonly held that software, e-commerce and business model related inventions are inherently unpatentable in Europe. In reviewing the situation, this article emphasises the large number of inventions in this field which have in fact been patented through the EPO or through the national patent offices in Europe. The author provides many specific examples and draws parallels with the interpretation of the patent law in other technical fields. He shows that, if proper attention is paid to both the substance and the form of the claims and description, to direct the reader to the technical problem and its solution, effective protection is in fact very often available. The article also provides a brief introduction to the technology of computers for the non-expert and makes a brief mention of the differences in the law in Europe and the USA in this field.
e-commerce business models epo technical problem software patentability claim construction direct infringement indirect infringement business management financial systems artificial intelligence natural language processing image processing computer graphics word processing software speech recognition