Manner of manufacture and software-based inventions: Patent eligibility test re-affirmed but limited further clarity provided by Australian Appeals Court

18 September 2019
After much anticipation and a 10 month wait since the appeal was heard in November 2018, the expanded panel of five Federal Court judges in Encompass Pty Ltd v Infotrack Pty Ltd have delivered their decision, finding that they were “not persuaded that the primary judge erred in concluding that each [Encompass patent in suit] does not claim an invention that is a manner of manufacture within the meaning of section 6 of the Statute of Monopolies”.  Each of the Encompass patents in suit have accordingly been found to be invalid.
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Software Patents Strike Back – RPL Central v Commissioner of Patents

2 September 2013
It’s been a busy year in software patents, all over the world. We’ve had decisions on this issue in Australia, headlined by Research Affiliates in February, and in the US the Federal Circuit split 5:5 in a case concerning an Australian company, Alice v CLS Bank in April. More recently, the New Zealand parliament passed a new Patents Act which excludes computer software “as such” from patentability.
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