New Zealand Bans Software Patents

Nerdfest writes with news that New Zealand has, after going back and forth a couple of times, finally banned software patents. From the article: "New Zealand has finally passed a new Patents Bill that will effectively outlaw software patents after five years of debate, delay, and intense lobbying from multinational software vendors. Aptly-named Commerce Minister Craig Foss welcomed the modernization of patents law, saying it marked a 'significant step towards driving innovation in New Zealand'. An IITP poll of members at the time showed 94% of those with a view were in favor of banning software patents."

Crap ...

[gstoddart]

So they've disallowed software patents, but allowed more extensive spying. Dammit New Zealand, you need to pick one.

Though, I will say that any company looking to develop software for a domestic market will be happy about this -- you likely can't export because the patents would be in place most everywhere else.

I'm sure right now there's an entire branch of the US government planning regime change, since the US has pinned their hopes to copyright and patents. It is, however, nice to see other countries saying "what's in it for us?"

Oh Oh

[deviated_prevert]

The cost of MS office site licenses, adobe photo shop and a swack of other US written software just went up in New Zealand. Considering Microsoft cannot patent the essential xml word processing core that locks in cloud based MS office users and neither can the cloud xml routines in Photo Shop that lock the customer to both Microsoft and Adobe for off site file storage and or remote processing routines. This was how this whole thing started with Microsoft applying to patent the cloud xml hooks in Word and New Zealand balking at the idea as being not unique enough to warrant a monopoly patent on cloud based word processing. Funny but Google has been doing cloud based word processing for years, now Microshaft comes along and tries to patent it. ROLF, problem is they already succeeded in North America and everybody ignores the fact.

Re:Oh Oh

[WillAffleckUW]

Nobody uses MSFT anymore. They just use open source software suites.

At least in New Zealand.

(caveat - I am a published author in New Zealand and Australia under another legal name)

Read more carefully. The bill's examples are oppos

[raymorris]

> "It isn't a new invention if it is just software -- it must be part of a greater whole, such as an embedded device."

I see how to you got that idea, but read more carefully. What the examples are intended to show is that:

a) assume the washing machine has no new mechanics, so the washing machine is not patentable.
b) putting a computer program into the washing machine ALSO isn't patentable. That's the point of the law.
c) the computer chip may contain a program which IS a new invention and that program may be patentable.
d) it's patentable not BECAUSE it's a program, it's patentable because it's a new invention - being software is irrelevant