Introduction

Abstract

More than five centuries ago the first patent statute was passed by the Venetian senate. It already had most of the features of modern patent law, recognizing the public interest in innovation and granting exclusive right in exchange for a full disclosure. Some 350 years later the industrial revolution led to globalisation. The wish to protect intellectual property on a more international level evolved and supranational treaties were negotiated. Patent laws are still different in many countries, however, and inventors are sometimes at a loss to understand which basic requirements should be satisfied if an invention is to be granted a patent. This is particularly true for inventions implemented on a computer. While roughly a third of all applications (and granted patents) relate, in one way or another, to a computer, applications where the innovation mainly resides in software or in a business method are treated differently by the major patent offices. The procedures at the USPTO, JPO and EPO and, in particular, the differences in the treatment of applications centring on software are briefly explained. In later sections of this book, a wealth of examples will be presented. The methodology behind the treatment of these examples is explained.