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Difference between revisions of "Case law"

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'''Case law''' is a special subset of court cases which give definitions about how patent law is to be interpreted in the given [[country]].  The most important cases define what is and isn't [[patentable subject matter]].
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'''Case law''' is a special subset of court rulings which create precedent and give definitions about how patent law is to be interpreted in the given [[country]].  The most important cases define what is and isn't [[patentable subject matter]] (i.e. is software patentable or not).
  
There are many [[criteria]] on which a court can rule a patent to be invalid.  A court might say the patent wasn't original enough, or wasn't sufficiently innovative.  Those court rulings are not very interesting for our goal of excluding software from patentability.  An example is the ruling in [[Germany]] which invalidated [[Microsoft's FAT patents|Microsoft's Fat32 patent]].{{fact}}
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(If you're looking for court cases which were important for other reasons, see '''[[List of lawsuits]]'''.)
  
Examples of useful rulings include [[Aerotel v. Telco (2006, UK)]], and [[in re Bilski (2008, USA)]].
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There are many [[criteria]] on which a court can rule a patent to be invalid.  A court might say the patent wasn't original enough, or wasn't sufficiently innovative.  Those court rulings are not very interesting for our goal of excluding software from patentability.
  
 
==Case law around the world==
 
==Case law around the world==
  
:''(For general litigation, see [[List of lawsuits]])''
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{{also|List of lawsuits}}
  
 
===Australia===
 
===Australia===
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===Canada===
 
===Canada===
  
* [[Canada#Case_law]]
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* [[Case law in Canada]]
* [[Amazon v. Commissioner for Patents (2010, Canada)]]
 
  
===England and Wales===
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===Israel===
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* [[Israel#Case_law]]
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===United States of America===
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{{main|Case law in the USA}}
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===Japan===
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* [[Japan#Case law]]
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* [[Matsushita v. Justsystem ruling by the Tokyo District Court on 1 February 2005]]
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===European Union===
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====England and Wales====
  
:''See: [[Case law in the UK]]''
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{{main|Case law in the UK}}
  
===Germany===
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====Germany====
  
:''See: [[Case law in Germany]]''
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{{main|Case law in Germany}}
  
===Israel===
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====Netherlands====
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* [[Apple v. Samsung (2011, Netherlands)]]
  
* [[Israel#Case_law]]
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====France====
  
===United States of America===
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* See: [[France]] (various subsections)
  
:''See: [[Case law in the USA]]''
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=={{SITENAME}} case law articles==
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{{court rulings list}}
  
 
==Related pages on {{SITENAME}}==
 
==Related pages on {{SITENAME}}==
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{{footer}}
 
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[[Category:Understanding the patent system]]
 
[[Category:Understanding the patent system]]
[[Category:Court cases and litigation]]
 

Latest revision as of 09:25, 27 February 2012

Case law is a special subset of court rulings which create precedent and give definitions about how patent law is to be interpreted in the given country. The most important cases define what is and isn't patentable subject matter (i.e. is software patentable or not).

(If you're looking for court cases which were important for other reasons, see List of lawsuits.)

There are many criteria on which a court can rule a patent to be invalid. A court might say the patent wasn't original enough, or wasn't sufficiently innovative. Those court rulings are not very interesting for our goal of excluding software from patentability.

Case law around the world

See also: List of lawsuits

Australia

Canada

Israel

United States of America

Main article: Case law in the USA

Japan

European Union

England and Wales

Main article: Case law in the UK

Germany

Main article: Case law in Germany

Netherlands

France

  • See: France (various subsections)

ESP Wiki case law articles

Ordered per region, then newest first. (Also: Cat:Court rulings)

Australia: (overview)

Canada: (overview)

EUCJ:

France:

Germany: (overview) (category)

Japan:

Israel: (overview)

Netherlands:

UK: (overview) (category)

USA: (overview) (category)

Related pages on ESP Wiki

External links