Not a lot o'luck for Shopalotto.com and the patentability of Internet games

摘要

Computer implemented inventions had more than their fair share of publicity in 2005. When the European Parliament rebelled against the Commissions' proposed Directive on the patenting of computer implemented inventions ("CIIs"), rejecting it despite the Commission's protestations that it was this version or nothing, the responsibility to provide a coherent approach to patentability of software inventions across Europe was thrown back onto the local courts and Patent Offices in coordination with the European Patent Office. Given the rise of the Internet and the ubiquitous use of software to translate ideas into effects, the establishment of clear rules of assessment of the patentability of such "inventions" is of paramount importance.