The Productivity Commission has recently released a
draft report recommending software and business methods be
specifically excluded from being patented. Shelston IP believes
that such action would be harmful to Australia's technology
start-up sector, in particular to SMEs whose competitive advantage
resides in innovative software interfaces and
processes.
Most heavily affected are businesses whose innovative technology
is public-facing, and hence unable to be hidden in code. Examples
include user interface technologies, eCommerce platforms, mobile
apps, and innovative website technologies. Furthermore, often where
the crux of a software invention is at the concept level (and not
reliant on unique coding approaches), businesses with those forms
of software (e.g. in fields such as data security, search engines,
and data management/processing) face difficulties in advertising
their product offerings without enabling competitors to develop
imitations.
