Software-Related Patents:
Argentina
copyright 1997 Donald M. Cameron , Aird & Berlis
Contents
Statutes
The Argentinean Patent Law Nr. 111 does not include any specific provision regarding the patentability of computer software.
Regulations
Patent Office resolution 42/88 (put in effect January 1, 1989) states:
"Regarding applications referring to the processing of information, the Examiner must determine whether the object of the invention relates to a program. Claims directed exclusively to programs shall not be accepted, programs considered to be a series of instructions for controlling an operative sequence or steps of a computer, data or signal processor or a logic circuit. It will be acceptable to claim the structure of the interface between the computer and the means to be operated."
Case Law
In International Business Machines Corp. v. La Nacion Argentina s/Denegatoria (September, 1974) the Patent Office rejected an application claiming a method for optimizing data transfer. The application claimed both the method and an apparatus for performing it. On appeal the Court allowed the application. The decision established that when software is described as a means and the device is also claimed, that the invention is patentable.
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