Posted by ipeg on June 29th, 2010
When Bernard Bilski sought to patent a method for hedging against weather-driven changes in energy prices, he undoubtedly never anticipated the storm of legal controversy that would ensue. Bilski’s 1997 patent application took center stage in a struggle to establish guidelines for assessing whether certain types of subject matter—and in particular, so-called “business methods”—no matter how novel or useful, are eligible for patenting at all.
Our Founders, like Bilski himself, probably never imagined the scrutiny that this subject...
Posted by ipeg on March 5th, 2010
Negotiations about a new EU-South Korean Free Trade Agreement have taken a while, but finally parties reached an agreement. Although ambitious, nothing shocking it seems, but as soon words like “intellectual property” and “computer programs” are used in the same context – in this case what is known as “Chapter 10″ of the Trade Agreement, this is like waving a red flag to a bull. The agreement is not all that exciting to read and many provisions are merely confirmations on already existing international...
European IP Case Law (IPPT)