Software Patent

Software patent does not have a universally accepted definition.[1] One definition, proposed by the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure, is that a software patent is a "patent on any performance of a computer realised by means of a computer program."[2] Bessen & Hunt 2004 propose an alternative way of identifying software patents that is more easily used in practice.

A related term is computer-implemented invention (CII), which is used by the European Patent Office (EPO). One EPO definition of a CII is "an invention whose implementation involves the use of a computer, computer network or other programmable apparatus, the invention having one or more features which are realised wholly or partly by means of a computer program."[3]

There is intense debate as to what extent either software patents or patents on computer-implemented inventions should be granted, if at all. Different aspects of this debate include:

The extent to which patents for processes implemented in software should be patentable as a matter of policy; and The inventive step and non-obviousness requirements that should be met for a patent involving software.

The complete, up-to-date and editable article about Software Patent can be found at Wikipedia: Software Patent
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_patent