Patent governance
Patent law goverance is generally concentrated in three places:
- The legislation
- The patent office
- The courts
Contents
Legislation
In many cases, the legislation is vague and open to interpretation. This greatly reduces its importance. If you want to know the law, you will usually find it in case law, not in the legislation.
The EU software patents directive was an attempt to change legislation. As of June 2010, the New Zealand parliament are working on changing their legislation and legislative proposals are coming in Australia and Israel.
Patent offices
- Main article: Patent office decisions
Patent offices (without any well-known exception) make a profit on applications that they approve.
Courts
- Main article: Court rulings creating precedent
The decisions of the courts are the most important.
Many court cases, even among non-USA companies, take place in the USA. (See forum shopping)
ESP Wiki has articles about the court procedures and hierarchy of some countries:
- Canadian patent courts and appeals
- German patent courts and appeals
- UK patent courts and appeals
- USA patent courts and appeals
Other important institutions
Other institutions can have a role, such as the United States International Trade Commission, to which some patent holders apply hoping to block imports and exports from the USA of competitors' products.
