Yesterday Minister of Commerce Simon Power instructed the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) to develop guidelines to allow inventions that contain embedded software to be patented.
"IPONZ will formulate draft guidelines and seek the views of interested parties," he said.
Paul Matthews,Chief Executive of the NZ Computer Society, said "Despite what appears to be a big-budget lobbying effort by the pro-patent fraternity, Hon Simon Power announced today that he wouldn't be modifying the proposed Patents Bill hence software will be unpatentable once the Bill passes into law." Matthews said the ruling was significant as software patents aren't black and white and there are many pros and cons. "However on balance, we believe they represent a far greater risk to smaller NZ-based software providers than opportunity, and there are many cases where they have significantly stifled innovation," he said in a blog.
In a statement to the press today the NZICT has said it would welcome further clarification from the Minister of Commerce Simon Power.
“In creating these guidelines, IPONZ will now consult with interested parties, which will result in a clear definition around the patentability of software,” said NZICT CEO Brett O’Riley. “We look forward to participating with IPONZ in creating guidelines on software patents.
