Easier Patenting of Computer Inventions

One of important changes in the Industrial Property Law Act which came into force last year, concern facilitations for computer inventions.

Before the change, the Polish Patent Office was refusing to grant patents for computer inventions, on the basis of Article 28 sec. 5 of he Industrial Property Law Act, according to which digital machines shall not be considered to be inventions. It made applicants to apply to the EPO (European Patent Office) instead of the Polish Patent Office.

The change introduced section 2 to Article 28 of the Industrial Property Law, pursuant to which “computer software shall not be considered to be inventions, unless the application concerns the subject or activity as themselves”. This provision allows to adjust the Polish law to Article 52 (2) and (3) of the European Patent Convention.

Another substantial change is making more detailed the elements of patent description. New provisions introduce a requirement to indicate technical problem to be solved by the innovation.

The changes, adjusting the Polish provision to the European Patent Convention, should make easier obtaining patents for computer inventions in the Polish Patent Office.