Software-Related Patents:
Austria
copyright 1997 Donald M. Cameron , Aird & Berlis
Contents
Statutes
Section 1(2)(3) of the Austrian Patent Act corresponds to article 52(2)(c) of the EPC . The same prohibition appears in Section 1(3)(3) of the Austrian Utility Models Act (Bundesgesetz über den Schutz von Gebrauchsmustern "Gebrauchsmusterschutzgesetz - GMG"; BGBI 1994/211) which came into effect on April 1, 1994. This Act, which is sometimes referred to as the Small Patent Act is intended to grant protection for technical developments which do not have a sufficiently high innovation component to be awarded a patent. However, under Section 1(2) of the Utility Models Act, the program logic, upon which programs for data processing equipment is based, may be protected.
Regulations
There are no regulations that deal specifically with the patentability of software.
Case Law
There is no case law that deals specifically with the patentability of software.
Endnotes
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