On October 8, 2008, United Kingdom’s Court of Appeals for the first time held patent protection should be available for computer program implemented inventions making a technical contribution to the art including inventions where the technical contribution solves a technical problem lying within a general purpose computer itself.  The court’s decision went on to outline when such patent protection will be available.

The following is a synopsis:

- Software will not be patentable in the UK merely by virtue of being used with a general-purpose computer, but a technical contribution indicates that a software implemented invention should be patentable.

- Improving the speed and reliability of the functioning of the computer is a technical contribution; in particular a program that makes a computer operate on other programs faster than prior art operating programs is patentable.

- Correct application of UK law should result in software inventions that provide a technical contribution, even one solely within the computer, being patentable.

- The heart of the question of patentability is whether the contribution of the invention is technical.  The real issue to be decided is whether the invention provides a technical contribution to the art.

We here at Nikolai & Mersereau routinely assist clients with securing patents in the UK and other European countries.  We have developed a network of associates across Europe we work with to ensure our clients receive expert advice on European IP protection.  We would like to thank our friends at Reddie & Gross in the UK for providing us with a detailed report concerning recent change in UK law which we have summarized above. 

Jim Paige          (612) 392-7310           Jim.Paige@nm-iplaw.com