Spain is a party to the main international conventions concerning intellectual property rights, and the protection granted by these rights, as well as the different ways in which they can be obtained, are generally similar to those available in any other European country.
This article is a brief overview of the types of protection available in Spain for software, and for other types of technology, such as inventions and know-how. It also looks at how antitrust considerations apply to technology transfer agreements.
Software:
The patentability of software has been one of the hot discussion topics in recent years, but how the law will evolve in this area remains to be seen. Spain is a member of the European Patent Convention and, although Article 52 (2) and (3) of the European Patent Convention exclude computer programs "as such" from patentability, it is well known that the European Patent Office (EPO) position has evolved in favor of allowing software patents.
