Difference between revisions of "Germany"
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| − | '''Germany''' is part of the [[European Union]] | + | '''Germany''' is part of the [[European Union]], is a signatory of the [[European Patent Convention]], and has significant [[case law in Germany|case law]] regarding [[software patents]]. |
==Case law== | ==Case law== | ||
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:''(See: [[Case law in Germany]])'' | :''(See: [[Case law in Germany]])'' | ||
| − | Germany has a mixed history of rejecting and, more recently, upholding software patents. Germany is a signatory of the [[European Patent Convention]], so this case law will be influential in most of Europe. | + | Germany has a mixed history of rejecting and, more recently, upholding software patents. Germany is a signatory of the [[European Patent Convention]], so this case law will be influential in most of Europe. In 2010, the Germany High Court (BGH) upheld a patent on an [[XML patents|XML]] document formatting system (case [[Xa ZB 20/08 (2010, April, Germany)|Xa ZB 20/08]]) and one of [[Microsoft's FAT patents]] (case [[X ZR 27/07 (2010, April, Germany)|X ZR 27/07]]). |
==Legislation== | ==Legislation== | ||
Revision as of 11:23, 21 June 2010
Germany is part of the European Union, is a signatory of the European Patent Convention, and has significant case law regarding software patents.
Case law
- (See: Case law in Germany)
Germany has a mixed history of rejecting and, more recently, upholding software patents. Germany is a signatory of the European Patent Convention, so this case law will be influential in most of Europe. In 2010, the Germany High Court (BGH) upheld a patent on an XML document formatting system (case Xa ZB 20/08) and one of Microsoft's FAT patents (case X ZR 27/07).
Legislation
Patentable subject matter is defined by the below quoted part of this law: German original: Bekanntmachung der Neufassung des Patentgesetzes, Vom 16. Dezember 1980 (English translations[?]: Google, bing translator)
(3) Als Erfindungen im Sinne des Absatzes 1 werden insbesondere nicht angesehen:
- 1. Entdeckungen sowie wissenschaftliche Theorien und mathematische Methoden;
- 2. ästhetische Formschöpfungen;
- 3. Pläne, Regeln und Verfahren für gedankliche Tätigkeiten, für Spiele oder für geschäftliche Tätigkeiten sowie Programme für Datenverarbeitungsanlagen;
- 4. die Wiedergabe von Informationen.
(4) Absatz 3 steht der Patentfähigkeit nur insoweit entgegen, als für die genannten Gegenstände oder Tätigkeiten als solche Schutz begehrt wird.
Related pages on ESP Wiki
External links
- http://www.dpma.de - Germany's patent office
- German original: PatentFrei (anti-swpat group, still active in 2010) (English translations[?]: Google, bing translator)
- Software Patents in Germany, Stefan Bechtold, July 2000
- German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
- 180 German police perform raid regarding software patents
- FFII's page on swpats in Germany
- http://www.esr-pollmeier.de/swpat/intro.html
- http://www.patentfrei.de/
- Industry Standards and the Competition Law Defence Acting Like a 'True Licensee' - about the competition law defence
- Software Patents in Germany - Current Developments, by Stefan Bechtold, July 2000
- German original: ipwiki.de/patentrecht:softwarepatente (English translations[?]: Google, bing translator)
- German original: de.wikipedia: Softwarepatent#Deutschland (English translations[?]: Google, bing translator)
- German original: www.swpat.info (English translations[?]: Google, bing translator)
FFII pages
- FFII page about a 1976 BGH decision, which also has a handful of other good links near the top
- German original: FFII page about the 2002 ruling with "forces of nature" (English translations[?]: Google, bing translator)
- German original: FFII wiki about the Vistaprint case (English translations[?]: Google, bing translator)
- German original: FFII wiki listing software patent cases, most in German courts (English translations[?]: Google, bing translator)
