Software left unprotected; in keeping with recent trends, the 1st Circuit limits copyrightability of computer programs
Article Abstract:
The 1st US Circuit Court of Appeals' decision in Lotus Development v Borland International further narrows copyright protection for computer software. Initial protection first suffered from use of the three-step abstraction-filtration-comparison test. In Lotus, the court agreed with Borland that the command structure in question cannot be copyrighted under 17 USC 102(b), throwing protection for the creative aspects of computer programming into question. Some critics call for explicit limited-duration sui generis protection.
Publication Name: The National Law Journal
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0162-7325
Year: 1995
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New guidelines apply to international licensing: DOJ and FTC issue directives on the application of U.S. antitrust statutes to intellectual property
Article Abstract:
New guidelines on antitrust enforcement and intellectual property issued on Apr 5 by the US Dept of Justice and Federal Trade Commission merit attention worldwide. The 1995 Antitrust Guidelines for the Licensing of Intellectual Property and the 1995 Antitrust Enforcement Guidelines for International Operations state how the two agencies will decide when to act to enforce US antitrust laws. They call for not acting unless licensor and licensee together control 20% or more of the relevant market, among other changes.
Publication Name: The National Law Journal
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0162-7325
Year: 1995
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Existing programs could be considered prior art; publicly available software with a ban on reverse-engineering may invalidate future registrations
Article Abstract:
Defense against lawsuits charging patent infringement of computer software can often assert that the patent is invalid because of prior art, or forms of similar software publicly available a year before the patent was sought. Even software distributed under a license agreement barring reverse-engineering of the code may be susceptible to this argument. The Federal Circuit's decision in In re Epstein and the on-sale bar of 35 USC 102(b) strengthen this argument.
Publication Name: The National Law Journal
Subject: Law
ISSN: 0162-7325
Year: 1995
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