University of Tartu - ©2011 Dominique Peer Ghislain Dr Unruh - Last update: 26.11.2013 14:19
Date: 28/11/2013 Location: J. Liivi 2, room 317 (next to the coffee room)
Speaker: Frank Waitzhofer
Title: Patenting Software in Europe
This event is sponsored by QuBalt.
Abstract:
Patenting software in Europe: Examples and case studies for protecting software, computer programs and computer-implemented inventions under the European Patent Convention (EPC). Copy rights, open source software and software patents, a conflict or a fruitful coaction?
The patentability of computer programs is a hot topic in the patent world. The technological development may set challenges for the patenting issues. Most countries place some limits on patenting of inventions involving software. In Europe under the EPC, applicants need to show that their invention actually makes a contribution in a technical field. The present speech shall identify the legal requirements for software to get patented in Europe. Case law examples shall show which software is patentable and which not.
But, does one need patents for software? Actually, major market participants like Microsoft, IBM, Intel, Siemens and Universities do.
About the speaker:
Frank Waitzhofer is a senior partner at the patent law firm HORN KLEIMANN WAITZHOFER (http://hkw-ip.eu/html/en/home.php) which specializes in prosecuting, defending and asserting intellectual property rights. He studied electrical engineering and information technology at the Technical University of Munich.
He handles cases in all areas of electrical engineering, telecommunications and mechanical engineering. In particular, he works in the fields of communications engineering, information technology, communication networks, telecommunications, internet technology, control and microprocessor engineering, analogue and digital circuits, automotive electronics, information encoding and decoding, man-machine communications, processor architectures, semiconductor and storage technology, data processing systems and software systems. Trademarks and employee inventions are a further focus of his work. He lectures on intellectual property law in Germany and abroad.