Commerce select committee chairwoman Lianne Dalziel has welcomed a Government change of heart on a controversial amendment to the Patents Bill.
But she warns guidelines that will be developed to accompany the bill could still frustrate the committee’s recommendation on software patents.
Commerce Minister Simon Power says the bill, which says that computer programs are not a patentable invention, will proceed through Parliament unamended. The Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ), part of the Economic Development Ministry, will develop guidelines to allow inventions that contain “embedded software” to be patented, in consultation with parties.
The committee had recommended that computer software no longer be patented, with the exception of inventions that relied on embedded software – or software that is built into a physical device, but the Government had been toying with an amendment to the bill that could have allowed software with a “technical purpose” to be patented.
Rory McLeod, director of the ministry’s competition, trade and investment branch, says IPONZ will not necessarily use the technical purpose definition for embedded software, but that will be one of the options.
Ms Dalziel says allowing software with a technical purpose to be patented will widen the scope of software that could be patented, frustrating the intent of the select committee.
Guidelines are the best option for determining which software can be patented, because they can change with technology, but copyright will be the best form of protection for most software, she says.
Information technology industry group NZICT has campaigned in favour of software patents, fearing the effect restricting software patents could have on its multinational members and locally owned software exporters. Others, including the Computer Society, have argued that new software is inevitably developed on existing product, meaning software firms are constantly risking legal action.
NZICT chief executive Brett O’Riley says it is looking forward to receiving clarification on what will be patentable, so members can make decisions about commercialising their intellectual property.
Society chief executive Paul Matthews says it will be watching to ensure the guidelines do not allow “software patents by stealth”.
Source:-http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/3930664/Software-patent-about-face-gets-the-thumbs-up
