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I'm really glad New Zealand decided to disallow software patents

No, that is not the case.

http://www.ajpark.com/ip-central/news-articles/2016/05/new-z...

What the Zeds have done is really not so different from what the Supreme Court decided in Enfish:

  claims purporting to improve the functioning of the
  computer itself, or improving an existing technological
  process might not succumb to the abstract idea exception
Abstract software is excepted (disallowed) but software which really controls machines is allowed.


This source is a bit clearer:

http://www.iam-media.com/blog/detail.aspx?g=96d4aeaf-dedf-4a...

"Effectively, if the invention lies purely in software, then it is considered unpatentable. However, as outlined in the explanatory note of the SOP, patents will still be able to be granted for inventions that

a) make use of computer programs where the contribution lies outside of the computer, or

b) affect the computer but is not dependent on the type of data being processed or the particular application being used.

Essentially embedded software is patentable where it improves the operation of hardware, along with software that improves the way a computer runs. Again, this is consistent with the UK."

Also Zeds is a really strange name for us. Correct term is Kiwis or Rugby Overlords :)




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