Published
2004-06-29
Keywords
- industrial property,
- software,
- right to ownership,
- copyright law,
- legal protection
Abstract
Copyright protect only those information technology products that have the status of a work, namely information technology works. In order to determine whether an information technology product has the status of a work, it is necessary to determine whether it is a manifestation of creative activity of an individual nature and to establish this in any form. If an information technology product does not have the aforementioned characteristics, it should be denied the status of a work. However, this does not preclude the possibility of giving a computer program and any other information technology product a different legal status.
If, despite the possible caveats, the concept of a program for digital machines, as referred to in Article 28(5) of the Industrial Property Law, is to be identified with the concept of a computer program understood in the same way as in the science of copyright law, it should be noted that it is possible - in view of the lack of relevant provisions of the law - to treat information technology products other than a computer program, e.g. multimedia, as inventions and patent them.
When specifying (in Article 28(5) of the Industrial Property Law) what patents are not granted for, the legislature deliberately used the term “program for digital machines,” while when specifying (in Article 102(2) of the Industrial Property Law) what cannot be a product whose form may have the nature of an industrial design, it just as deliberately used the term “computer program.” Therefore, the two concepts in question exist in the law in parallel and independently, and refer to completely different objects of industrial property law: inventions and industrial designs.
Technical solutions that include computer programs or other information technology products, as well as - in view of the wording of the law - stand-alone information technology products other than computer programs, such as multimedia products (e.g., games) or computer databases, may be treated as inventions under the current law and may also be considered improvement projects, while - unlike under previous laws - computer programs for EMCs are not unpatentable inventions.
The effect of the application of a utility model is supposed to be tangible (an object with a permanent form), which is not in the least demonstrated by an information technology work, which is an intangible good that at most is recorded on a tangible medium. In view of this, an information technology product may not be treated as a utility model and may not be protected under on this account.
The provisions on industrial designs do not apply to computer programs. This is true of all computer programs, both for EMCs and for analogue and hybrid computers. Information technology products other than a computer program may have the status of industrial designs. In addition, it can be pointed out that if they gain such status and at the same time meet the characteristics of a work, their cumulative protection by the provisions of copyright law and industrial property law will be possible.
Integrated circuit topographies, which are semiconductor circuit topologies, may not be used as a form of protection for computer programs or other information technology products.
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