23/05/1995 on Patents and Utility Models (as last amended by Law No. 25.859) Article 10 (3) (a) and (e) of the Industrial Property Law of 10/06/2008 X X X X X Australia Section 18 (3) and (4) of the Patents Act No. 83 of 1990 as last amended by Act No. 106 of 2006 X X X Austria Section 2 3) of the Patents Law BGBl. No.259/1970 as last amended by BGBl. No. 143/2001 (version of 2011 not available in English) X X X
Republic of Korea Democratic Republic of the Law on Industrial Property No. 82-001 of 07/01/1982 X X Dijbouti Articles 26 (a) and (d) and 27 (a) of the Protection of Industrial Property Law No.50/AN/09/6th L of 21/06/2009 X X X Dominican Republic Article 2(1) (a) and (g) and (2) (c) of the Industrial Property Law No. 20-00 of 08/05/2000 as last amended by Law No. 424-06 X X X Ecuador Article 126 (c) of the Intellectual Property X X X
Law, Codification No. 2006-013 Egypt Article 2(4) and (5) of the Law on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights No 82 of 03/06/2002 X X X El Salvador Law on the Promotion and Protection of Intellectual Property Rights No. 604 of 15/07/1993 X X Estonia §§ 6 (1) and (2) 8) and 7 (2) 5) and 6) and (3) of the Patent Act (RT I 1994, 25, 406) of 16/03/1994 as last amended on 07/12/2011 X X X Ethiopia Section 4 (1) (b) of the Proclamation X X X
the Year 1999(as last amended by Law No. 28 of 2007) Sections 26(a) of The Industrial Property Act, 2001 X X Kyrgyzstan Article 5 (9) 9) of the Patent Law No. 8 of 14/01/1998, as last amended by Law No. 46 of 27/02/2003 X X Lao People’s Democratic Republic Section 21 of the Intellectual Property Law of 14704/2008 X X Latvia Sections 1 (13) and 14) and 10 (1) 2) and 3) and (2) of the Patent Law of 15/02/2007 X X X
Morocco Article 24 (b) of the Law No. 17-97 concerning Protection of Industrial Property as implemented by Law No. 31-05 of 02/03/2006 X X Mozambique Article 30 (2) (b) of the Industrial Property Code, Decree No. 04 of 12/04/2006 X X X X X X X Nepal The Patent, Design and Mark Act, Law No.2022 of 1965 X X Netherlands Articles 1, 2a (1) (2) (c) and (d), and 3 (1) (c) and (d) of the Patents Act of 15/12/1995(Text as it applies on 03/06/2009) X X X
Sao Tomé and Principe Law No. 4/2001 of 31/12/2001 on Industrial Property X X Saudi Arabia Article 45 (c) of the Law of Patents, Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits, Plant Varieties, and Industrial Designs of 16/07/2004 X X X Serbia Articles 7, § 3 and 9, § 1 3) and § 2 of the Patent Law of 27/12/2011 X X X Singapore Patents Act (Chapter 221) of 2005 X X Slovakia Articles 3 (a), (b), (c) and (d), 5 (2) (b) and (c), and 6 (1) (a) and (b) of the Patent Act No. 435/2001 as last X X X
software Permissible form of claim Requirements concerning software Excluded as such allowed No explicit provision Albania Articles 5(1), (2) and (3) and 112 of the Law on Industrial Property No. 9947 of 07/07/2008 X NA NA Algeria Article 7 6) of the Ordinance No. 03-07 of 19/07/2003 X Not mentioned (Guide pour l’élaboration d’une demande d’invention, 2001) Not mentioned (Guide pour l’élaboration d’une demande d’invention, 2001) Andorra Article 2(2) (c) and (3) of the Patent Act of 10/06/1999 X NA NA Angola Law No. 3/92 on Industrial Property of 28/02/1992 X NA NA Antigua and Barbuda Patent Act No. 23 of 2003 X NA NA Argentina Article 6( c) of the Patents Act No. X Not specified Patentable if it presents:
(MOPOP 16.03.02) . Cape Industrial Property Code, Decree-Law No. 4/2007 of 20/08/2007 Industrial Property Code X NA NA Chile Industrial Property Law No. N° 19.039 (Consolidated Law of 2006) X Not specified (Guía para el examen de patentes, 2009) Not specified (Guía para el examen de patentes, 2009) China Article 25 (2) of the Patent Law of 12/03/1984 as last amended on 27/12/2008 X Not specified computer program per se not patentable since they are in the category of rules and methods for mental activities (excluded from patentability by Article 25 of the Patent Law) (Rule 4.2, Chapter 2, Part II, of the SIPO Guidelines of 2010)
if all the contents of a claim include not only rules and methods for mental activities but also technical features, then the claim as a whole is not rules and methods for mental activities, and shall not be excluded from patentability in accordance with Article 25 (Rule 2.2; Chapter 9, Part II, of the SIPO Guidelines of 2010) Costa Rica Article 1 (2) (a) of the Law on Patents, Industrial Designs and Utility Models No. 6867 of 25/04/1983 as last amended by Law No. 8632 of 25/05/2008 X Not specified in the “Manual de organización y examen de solicitudes de patentes de invención de las oficinas de propiedad industrial de los países del istmo centroaméricano y la república dominicana” Not specified in the “Manual de organización y examen de solicitudes de patentes de invención de las oficinas de propiedad industrial de los países del istmo centroaméricano y la república dominicana” Croatia X “computer-implemented invention", intend to claims which involve Basic patentability considerations: in principle the same as for other
Law (Consolidation No. 2006-13) Egypt Law on the Protection of Intellectual Property Rights No. 82 of 2002 X NA (Arabic only) NA (Arabic only) El Salvador Law on the Promotion and Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (Legislative Decree No. 604 of 15/07/1993) X NA NA Estonia § 6(2) 5) of the Patent Act (Act No. RT I 1994, 25, 406, as last amended by Act No. RT I, 28.12.2011 of 07/12/2011) X NA (Methodological Guidelines "Invention and Patent Claim" available only in Estonian) NA (Methodological Guidelines "Invention and Patent Claim" available only in Estonian) Ethiopia Section 4 (1) (c) of the Proclamation of the Industrial Property Law No. 123 of 10/05/1995 X NA NA Finland Section 1(2) 3) of the Patents Act No. 550 of X NA NA
15/12/1967 as last amended by Act No. 743 of 17 /06/2011 (Guidelines for Search and Examination - Finnish only) (Guidelines for Search and Examination - Finnish only) France Article L611-10 (2) (c) and (3) of the Intellectual Property Code, Law No. 92-597 of 01/07/1992 (as last amended on 13/08/2013) X les formulations suivantes sont acceptées: ● programme d’ordinateur comprenant des portions /moyens / instructions de code de programme pour l’exécution des étapes du procédé selon la revendication (X) lorsque ledit programme est exécuté sur un ordinateur ● produit programme d’ordinateur comprenant des portions / moyens / instructions de code de programme enregistré sur un support utilisable dans un ordinateur, comprenant : ● des moyens de programmation lisibles par caractère technique (Directives examen demande de brevet, Titre I, Section C, Chap. VII, rule 1.6)
Drafting and Filing Applications for Inventions and Utility Models and Granting a Patent) Drafting and Filing Applications for Inventions and Utility Models and Granting a Patent) Germany Section 1 (3) 3) and (4) of the Patent Law of 16/12/1980 (as last amended by the Act on Improvement of Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights of 31/07/2009) X Not specified (Guidelines for the examination procedure as of 2004, 4.3) The exclusion of the or activities mentioned under a) to d) is only applicable to the extent that protection is sought for them as such (Sec. 1 (2), (3) Patent Law), ie. they are only excluded from patent protection insofar as they are claimed irrespective of any concrete implementation. Where they are utilised to solve a concrete technical problem, they are generally patentable in this context. 4.3.1. Inventions involving a computer program, an arithmetical or organisational rule, other software characteristics or a process are in
principle eligible for patent protection provided they contain a technical teaching. (Guidelines for the examination procedure as of 2004, 3.3.3.2.1 and 4.3) Ghana Patent Act, Act No. 657 of 2003 X NA NA Greece Law No. 1733/1987 on Technology Transfer, Inventions and Technological Innovation (in Greek only) Guatemala Section 91 (g) of the Industrial Property Law, Decree No. 57 of 18/09/2000 X Not specified (Patent Regulations 2002) Not specified (Patent Regulations 2002) Guinea Bissau Industrial Property Code of 1996 X NA NA Guyana Patents and Designs Act (Cap. 90:03) of X NA NA
01/01/1938 as last revised in 1972 (not specified in Patent Regulations) (not specified in Patent Regulations) Honduras Article 5 6) of the Industrial Property Law, Decree Law No. 12-99-E of 30/12/1999 X Not specified (Guía para usuarios de patentes) Not specified (Guía para usuarios de patentes) Hungary Article 1 (2) (c) and (3) of the Law on the Protection of Inventions by Patents No. XXXIII of 1995 (Consolidated text of 01/03/2011) X NA (Available only in Hungarian) NA (Available only in Hungarian) Iceland Article 1 (2) 3) of the Patent Act No. 17 of 1991 as last amended by Act No. 167/2007 X India Section 3 (k) of the Patent Act No. 39 of 1970 as last amended by the Patents Amendment Act No. 15 of 2005 X - application for patent for a new hardware system, the possibility of a computer If a claim in a patent application is not directed at a computer programme per se it could be patentable, if all other patentability conditions are met
Iran Patent, Industrial Design and Trademark Registration Act of 29/10/2007 X NA NA Iraq Law No. 28 of 1999 X NA NA Ireland Section 9(2) (c) and (3) of the Patent Act No. 1 of 27/02/1992, as last amended by Law No. 31 of 2006 X Not specified (Patent application Guide of 2013) Not specified (Patent application Guide of 2013 Israel Patent Law no. 5727 of 1967 as last amended by Law No. 5760-1999 X Not specified Not specified Italy Article 45 (2) (b) and (3) of the Industrial Property Code, Legislative Decree No. 30 of 15/02/2005 X Jamaica Patents Act of 1857 as last amended in 1975 X NA NA
Japan Article 2 (3) and (4) of the Patent Law No. 121 of 13/04/1959, as last amended by Act No. 63 of 2011 X Inventions of: Product -process (Rule 1.1.1 of the Examination Guidelines for Patent and Utility Model as of July 2013) Statutory invention: the claimed invention shall be a creation of technical ideas utilizing a law of nature ((Rule 2.2 of the Examination Guidelines for Patent and Utility Model as of July 2013) Jordan Law on Patents No. 32 of 1999, as last amended by Law No. 28 of 2007 X NA NA Kenya Industrial Property Act No. 3 of 27/07/2001 X Not specified (Guideline for the examination of Patents, Utility Models, and Industrial Designs of 2007) Description: requires to be written substantially in normal language, possibly accompanied by flow diagrams or other aids to understanding, so that the invention may be understood by those skilled in the art who are deemed not to be programming specialists.
No specifications patentability requirements (Rule 6.7, Guideline for the examination of Patents, Utility Models, and Industrial Designs of 2007) Lao People’s Democratic Republic Intellectual Property Law of 14/01/2008 X NA NA Latvia Section 9 (2) 3) and (3) of the Patent Law of 15/02/2007 X NA NA Lebanon Patents Law No. 240 of 07/08/2000 X NA NA Lesotho Industrial Property Order No. 5 of 1989, as last amended by Act No. 4 of 1997 X NA NA Liberia Industrial Property Act of 2003 X NA NA
Mexico Article 19 IV of the Industrial Property Law of 25/06/1991, last amended version of 06/12/2005 X Not specified (Guía del usuario de Patentes y Modelos de Utilidad de 2012) Not specified (Guía del usuario de Patentes y Modelos de Utilidad de 2012) Mongolia Article 4 (5) 2) of the Patent Law of 25/06/1993, as last amended in 1999 X NA NA Montenegro Article 5 (2) 4) and (3) of the Law on Patents of 22/10/2008 X NA NA Morocco Article 23 (3) of the Law No. 17-97 of 15/02/2000 concerning Protection of Industrial Property as implemented by the Decree No. 2-00-368 of 07/06/2004 X Na NA Mozambique Article 30 (1) d) of the Industrial Property Code, Decree No. 4 of 12/04/2006 X NA NA
Philippines Section 22 2of the Intellectual Property Code, Act No. 8293 of 06/06/1997(as last amended by Act No. 9502 of 2008) X NA NA Poland Article 28 (v) of the Industrial Property Law of 30/06/2000, as amended by Act of 23/01/2004 and Act of 29/06/2007 X NA (Guidance inventor. Methods of examination of the patentability of inventions and utility Models. –Polish only-) NA (Guidance inventor. Methods of examination of the patentability of inventions and utility Models. –Polish only-) Portugal Article 52 (1) d) of the Industrial Property Code, Decree-Law No. 36 of 05/03/2003 as last amended by Law No. 16 of 01/04/2008 X Not specified (from the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property website: ) a technical solution to a technical problem involve technical considerations or represent a technical contribution in a technological domain (from: the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property website: )
Romania Article 8 (1) (c) and (2) of the Patent Law no. 64 of 1991 as republished in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, No. 456/18.VI.2008 X Not specified (The Patent Applicant’s Guide) Not specified (The Patent Applicant’s Guide) Russian Federation Article 1350 (5) 5) of the Patent Act (Chapter 72) X NA NA Rwanda Article 18 (2) of the Law No. 31/2009 of 26/10/2009 on the Protection of Intellectual Property X NA NA Saint Kitts and Nevis Patents Act (Cap. 18.25) of 31/12/2002 X NA NA Lucia Section 9 (2) (a) (iii) of the Patents Act No. 16 of 27/08/2001 X NA NA Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Patents Act (Act No. 39 of 2004) X NA NA
Singapore Patents Act No. 21 of 25/11/1994 as of 09/10/2009 X Not specified (Patent Rules of 1995 edition of 2007-) Not specified (Patent of 1995 edition of 2007-) Slovakia Article 5 (3) d) and (4) of the Act No. 435/2001 Coll. on Patents, Supplementary Protection Certificates as last amended by Act No. 202/ 2009 Coll. X Not specified (Instruction of the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic Defining Uniform Layout of a Patent Application) Not specified (Instruction of the Industrial Property Office of the Slovak Republic Defining Uniform Layout of a Patent Application) Slovenia Industrial Property Act of 23/05/2001 as last amended on 06/02/2006 X NA (Rules on the registers of applications and industrial property rights and on the certificate of the priority right available only in Slovenian) NA (Rules on the registers of applications and industrial property rights and on the certificate of the priority right available only in Slovenian) South Africa Section 25 (2) f) and (3) of the Patents Act No. 57 of 1978 as last amended by Act, No. 20 of 2005 X Not specified (Patent Regulations of 1978 as last amended in 2006) Not specified (Patent Regulations of 1978 as last amended in 2006)
No. 2000-84 of 24/08/2000 Turkey Article 6 (1) (c) of the Decree-Law on the Protection of Patent Rights No. 551 of 27/06/1995 (version of 2009 available only in Turkish) X Not specified (Patent Regulations) Not specified (Not specified) Turkmenistan Available only in Russian Uganda Patents Act of 15/10/1993 as last amended in 2002 X NA NA Ukraine Available only in Russian United Arab Emirates Federal Law No. 31 of 2006 Pertaining to the Industrial Regulation and Protection of Patents, Industrial Drawings, and Designs X NA NA
United Kingdom Section 1 (2) (c) of the Patents Act of 1977(unofficial consolidation of 01/10/2011) X Not specified (Manual of Patent Practice as of 01/07/2013) Substantive technical contribution (Manual of Patent Practice as of 01/07/2013, Rule 1.28) United Republic of Tanzania Patents Act No. 1 of 1987, Chapter 217, as last revised in 1994 X NA NA United States of America Title 35 of the USC of 19/07/1952 as last amended on 14/01/2013 X Product claim (together with a hardware) Process claim (Examination Guidelines for computer-related inventions, Rule 2) CII: need to disclose the implementation of the functionality through hardware, software or combination of both. In the case of software it has to indicate the means Distinction between descriptive material and material in relation to CII. _ patntability: related to the structural and functional interrelation with the medium Computer program per se not patentable - Claimed computer readable medium encoded with a computer program: patentable
to accomplish the software function. (MPEP, Chapter 2100, Section 2181, II, B) (Examination Guidelines for computer-related inventions, Rule 1) Uruguay Article 13 (e) of the Law No. 17.164 of 02/09/1999 Regulating Rights and Obligations Relating to Patents, Utility Models and Industrial Designs X Not specified (Patents, Utility Models and Industrial Designs Regulations of 2000) Not specified (Patents, Utility Models and Industrial Designs Regulations of 2000) Uzbekistan Vanuatu Section 3 (3) (f) of the Patents Act No. 2 of 2003 X NA NA Vietnam Article 59 2) of the Law on Intellectual Property No. 50/2005/QH11 of 29/11/2005 as last amended by Law No. 36/2009/QH12 X NA NA Yemen Law No. 2 of 2011 on Patents, Utility X NA NA