Are Software Patents in New Zealand a Thing of the Past?
New Zealand’s Minister of Commerce yesterday confirmed that computer programs will be excluded from patentability in the new Patents Act, but inventions for embedded software will be allowed.
This announcement comes after considerable public debate in light of the Commerce Select Committee’s (CSC) recommendation that software should be excluded from patentability. Software industry groups were concerned about the impact the blanket exclusion might have on the ability to protect innovation in New Zealand. Simon Power, the Minister of Commerce, has now decided that the Patents Act will exclude all software from patent protection, but Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) guidelines will allow inventions for “embedded” software.
Source: James & Wells Intellectual Property