Patenting IT Solutions

An interesting discussion about copyright and patent law in IT broke out in the comments on one of my posts. I am a member of the Rospatent Academic Council and am also studying patenting practices across different fields at RANEPA. A week ago, I prepared a report on how IT solutions are patented in different countries. It was based on a recent study by the Russian Centre for the Circulation of Rights to Creative Works (RCIS). I will not link to the study itself here—it is referenced in the attached file—because LinkedIn is thought to downgrade posts containing links to external resources.

I believe many people would be interested to learn how copyright and patent law for IT solutions are approached around the world.

In short, humanity has not yet decided how to deal with this issue. Different countries are trying to introduce ad hoc solutions that do not align particularly well with one another. Russia goes as far as treating IT solutions as literary works.

On 26 April, Rospatent is holding the IP Era forum, which I simply have to attend. All the key organisations shaping policy in this field will be there: Rospatent, RCIS, and others. I will find out what everyone thinks about the issue, and perhaps this post will have a follow-up.