“The confusion surrounding the UK’s position on software patents
looks set to continue after a ruling in the House of Lords
yesterday. The Law Lords refused Australian businessman Neal
Macrossan leave to appeal against a court decision last year that
his invention of an automated system that compiles the necessary
documents for incorporating a company in the UK could not be
patented.“A patent application for the web-based system had been rejected
by the Court of Appeal in October on the grounds that it was a
‘business method’ and a ‘computer program,’ both of which cannot be
patented under patent law…”