Intellectual Property Office approves software patent for UK

Software that allows programmers to program a mobile phone system remotely from a computer can be patented because it is more than just a software program, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has ruled.The ruling overturns an initial decision that the invention is unpatentable because it consists of nothing more than a computer program.The Patents Act says that something cannot be patented if it consists only of a program for a computer. The IPO has historically been...