The decision is a victory for mobile phone and software licensing company Symbian, as the Court dismissed an appeal filed by the UK IP Office against a High Court ruling in favour of the company earlier this year.
In a statement, Symbian’s press office said: “This case will be relevant to all companies involved in developing, selling or marketing devices in the UK that run software. Symbian is very pleased with the certainty and clarity this judgment brings to UK patentees.”
But while the ruling may allow many more computer programs to be patented in the future, it remains unclear to what extent this judgment has completely clarified the situation regarding software patentability in the UK.
There was no oral hearing for today’s much-anticipated verdict, which was delivered by Lord Justice Jacob, Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury. “So [we will not have...