24 October 2008

EPO to address software patentability

James Nurton, London

EPO President Alison Brimelow has asked the Enlarged Board of Appeal to address four questions about the patentability of computer programs in Europe

She says the Enlarged Board, the highest authority at the EPO, needs to bring clarity to an area where there is perceived to be inconsistency in the Office's interpretation of what is excluded from patentability under Article 52 of the European Patent Convention.

Writing to Peter Messerli, chairman of the Enlarged Board, on October 22, Brimelow said: "This point of law, which concerns the application of the exclusion of computer programs as such, is of fundamental importance as it defines the limits of patentability in the field of computing."

She added that there are concerns that some of the decisions of the EPO boards of appeal have given "too restrictive an interpretation of the breadth of the exclusion": "It is clear that the European Patent Office should have the leading role in harmonising the practice of patent offices within Europe."

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EPO to address software patentability

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