Abstract :
Over the past few decades, the patent laws in many countries have become increasingly alike. From time to time, treaties and conventions have “harmonized” the world´s patent laws, creating many fundamental similarities. For example, the patent term length, a “novelty” or “inventive step” requirement, and the recognition of another country´s earlier filing date are common provisions, but, just as in other legislative fields besides intellectual property, several noticeable differences still exist
Keywords :
computer software; legislation; patents; European Patent Convention; European Patent Office; European software patents; conventions; filing date; intellectual property; inventive step; legal harmonization; legislative fields; novelty requirement; patent laws; patent term length; treaties; Application software; Computer industry; Europe; Explosions; Intellectual property; Internet; Patent law; Proposals; Protection; Technical drawing;
