EPO 2003-12-10 talk on "computer-related inventions"

[Hartmut Pilch <phm@a2e.de>]

GregNews had the following a week ago.

The talk contains no reference to the European Parliament.

The technical boards of appeal continue to be the only source of
authority for this speaker at least.

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    -  DECEMBER 10TH TALK ON COMPUTER PATENTS AT EPO

On December 9th, 10th and 11th, the European Patent Office is having its
annual conference on its patent information services epoline, to be held
in Barcelona.  More information at www.epoline.org.

One of the talks is titled "Computer-related inventions, in particular
business methods: examination at the European Patent Office", and will
be given by Jorg Machek, one of the Directors of EPO.  A brief summary
of his talk:

     The requirements of the European Patent Convention regarding
     the patentability of methods for doing business will be
     investigated.  The relevant articles and rules will be looked
     at, taking into account various decisions of the boards of
     appeal.

     How does this translate into the everyday life of a patent
     examiner in the field of business methods?  The pragmatic
     approach currently in use at the EPO consists of two steps:
     a check on patentability, and then on inventiveness
     (inventive step).  The concept of "technicality" plays an
     important role in both cases.  Examples will be given to
     clarify these points.

-- 
Hartmut Pilch, FFII & Eurolinux Alliance              tel. +49-89-18979927
Protecting Innovation against Patent Inflation       http://swpat.ffii.org/
290,000 votes 2000 firms against software patents    http://noepatents.org/