Article by Caroline Barton
Software patenting has long been a controversial area of European law. Aiming to harmonise the different approaches taken by Member States, the European Commission has adopted a proposal for a Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions. Caroline Barton of City law firm Field Fisher Waterhouse looks at whether this Directive will achieve its aims.
How should the law protect rights in computer programs?
Although computers have been around in one form or another since Charles Babbage designed his Analytical Engine in the mid-19th century, it was not until the mid-1970s that the first consumer computers and programs were produced. The commercialisation of computers brought with it the need to protect the investment of time, skill and money that had gone into creating these products. At that time, copyright law seemed to be the best way of protecting computer programs, since direct automated copying is the easiest way of appropriating
