Intellectual Property – Patentability Of Computer Programmes - Exclusions
In the recent judgment of Re Shopalotto.com (2005), the Comptroller refused a patent application for a computer programme that permitted a user to play the lottery on the grounds that it was excluded from patentability under the provisions of the Patents Act 1977.
Shopalotto.com applied for a patent of a computer apparatus configured to provide a lottery playable via the Internet. The apparatus provided a web server and further software conditioning the machine to receive, store, select and compare. This enabled the computer to operate in a new way—to permit a user to play the lottery. The application was rejected and Shopalotto.com appealed this decision.
Copyright Protection Of Databases
Copyright law is covered by the Copyright Act of 1976, codified at 17 USC s 101 et seq. Some pertinent sections include, Sections 101, 102 and 103. Section 101 defines “compilation” as: “A work formed by the collection and assembling of preexisting materials or of data that are selected, coordinated, or arranged in such a way that the resulting work as a whole constitutes an original work of authorship”. Section 102(b) provides: “In no case does copyright protection for an original work of authorship extend to any idea, procedure, process, system, method of operation, concept, principle, or discovery, regardless of the form in which it is described, explained, illustrated, or embodied in such work.” Section 103 limits the protection of a compilation to the author’s original contributions and not the facts or information conveyed.
