Software

The intersection of intellectual property (IP) and genomics is reshaping the landscape of healthcare, biotechnology, and business in Nigeria. Genomics—the study of an organism’s entire genetic material—has profound implications for medical research, personalised medicine, agriculture, and pharmaceutical innovations. However, ensuring equitable benefits and commercial viability requires a robust IP framework.

The webinar “Protect Your IP with IT and Inventa: Software Patents and Artificial Intelligence” took place on February 26, with the participation of Inventa.

The event was held at the Telecommunications Institute (IT) in Lisbon and highlighted the main challenges and opportunities in protecting computer-implemented inventions, including those driven by Artificial Intelligence.

Computer programs appear on Article 52(2)(c) of the European Patent Convention (EPC), of 1973 as a subject matter excluded from the meaning of invention. However, in 2005, the European Patent Organization (EPO) had already granted over thirty thousand patents related to computer programs and, currently, computer-implemented inventions are the object of approximately 35% of European patent applications.

THE CONTEXT

The society of today galloped through technological evolutionary steps. Everyday life has been hijacked by Wi-Fi and all types of connectable devices. From smartphones to smart-fridges, everything is connected through wireless systems, various networks existing simultaneously, intertwined amongst themselves. While it may not be possible to protect the aforementioned programs by themselves, what is protected is exactly the method or a system implemented by software.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

In the last few years we have seen the rise in popularity of multiple software applications, with the latest and biggest example being “Pokémon Go” developed by NIANTIC, Inc. However, where there is a rise in popularity of a product, there is always an increase on the amount of copycats and counterfeits.

While in Europe there is a larger restriction for software patents, in the United States these restrictions are softer and the American Supreme Court has already issued several decisions concerning the matter.