Event details

>>	Gaining Patents for Software and Business Methods
>>	Portsmouth Technopole
>>	23rd September 2003

Start time:	1800
Cost:	Free
Speaker:	Dr. Jeremy Philpott
Speaker company:	The Patent Office

Summary:
** Portsmouth Festival Event **
An examination of the tricky area of Patents for Software and Business Methods. The well reported Amazon.com attempt to protect its one-click ordering process will be looked at. Our speaker is from the UK Patent Office.

There is a disparity between the US and Europe (including the UK) in terms of the level of patent protection available for software-based inventions and for business methods (eg: e-commerce). The wording of the statutes in Europe has led to much confusion, and too many businesses have been discouraged from seeking the patent protection which they mistakenly believed was denied them. Those businesses have also put too much faith in copyright which gives narrower protection than patents. This talk goes through the issues surrounding this current hot topic, explaining the history and philosophy behind the law, and how to manage the differences between the European and US positions.