December 2004
No US-style Patent System for UK
The Government ruled out a move to a US-style patent system, saying on the UK Patent Office website that, "the proposed European directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions will not adversely impact on the software market, particularly in relation to Open Source, but instead will help support a strong and vibrant technology based industry."
Lord Sainsbury, the Minister for Science & Innovation, met with critics of the Directive and patent officials, where he underlined the governments intention, by saying, "Changes in patent practice in the US in the last five years have caused concern in some areas of the computer industry and the Directive will ensure that Europe continues on its own path which is a balanced approach that both creates a climate for innovation and supports open source software."
He later added, "The intention is to maintain high criteria for those seeking patent protection, and to prevent any drift in a patent standards towards the current US position."
Currently, in the UK and Europe patent protection is only available to software which has a technical effect, such as mobile telephone software and car engine management systems. Other computer programs are protected by copyright.
It is estimated by the Patent Office that 20% of patent applications are for software.
Briffa Comment:
It seems that there will be few surprises in store with the new patent Directive which will engender certainty and so would be beneficial from a business prospective. However, it also means that a lot of work will only be protected under copyright which is a far less good proprietor right and therefore will leave a lot of software developers less able to control the marketing and development of their work.