Patents In The Information And Communications Technology Sector

Ms. Aura Soininen, who has worked in the IP and technology group of B&K’s Helsinki office since 2005, has completed her dissertation on patents. The public examination of the work titled "Patents in the Information and Communications Technology Sector - Development Trends, Problem Areas and Pressures for Change" was held on 3 March 2007 in the Lappeenranta University of Technology. In this article Ms. Soininen briefly discusses the topic of her work.

The primary aim of my dissertation was to increase understanding of the dynamics and the controversies of the U.S. and European patent systems, with a focus on the ICT sector. In order to do so I investigated the academic, political, legal and business developments that concern software and business-method patents and identified contentious areas. I also examined the problems with patents and open standards, both of which carry significant economic weight in the ICT sector. Here the focus of the work is on so-called submarine