Author Archive for Greg Kirsch

Intellectual Property Rights for Financial Services

Published
by
Greg Kirsch
  on  August 31, 2006
  in  Intellectual property
. 1 Comment

There is no form of intellectual property more controversial, nor more often misunderstood, than so-called “business method patents”. While some individuals and companies complain that patent systems were never intended to protect “methods of doing business”, patent applications on these types of inventions continue to be filed in record numbers. Government patent offices continue to issue such patents, with support by judges who interpret the patent law. While the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has perhaps become the most liberal in granting business method patents, Europe (such as by way of the European Patent Office) also allows these types of patents to be granted, if they are deemed to have a “technical effect”. Like most debates, there are plenty of arguments to be made pro and con.

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Software Patents in Europe

Published
by
Greg Kirsch
  on  March 17, 2005
  in  Intellectual property
. 6 Comments

On Monday, March 7, 2005, European government ministers approved a directive designed to reform how patents are handled in the European Union. The European Parliament (which includes some opponents of the directive), will ultimately vote on the initiative, which will either become law or be rejected.

At issue in the directive is whether the European Union will have an EU-wide system for enforcing patents (currently handled on a national level), and whether Europe will allow broader patent protection for software.
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