Bulgaria

Bulgaria
Bulgarie
Bulgarien
Report Q 158
by the Bulgarian Group
The Patentability of Business Methods
The Bulgarian National Group of AIPPI shares the opinion that the question for the legal
protection of methods, which are used in the fields of economics and trade, are very
important shall be carefully studied.
1.
The Bulgarian Patent Law (LP) contains an explicit provision excluding the
patentability of business methods. Art. 5 paragraph 4 p. 4 of the LP states that:
"Plans, rules and methods for intellectual activity, for playing games and for doing
business: are "excluded from inventions". According to the following paragraph 3
this prohibition applies to the referred objects as far as legal protection is required
for the objects themselves.
2.
The interpretation of art. 6 gives the ground to state that business methods could be
considered as inventions when legal protection is asked not for themselves alone,
but when they are an element of an intellectual result which together with the
business methods is patentable.
3.
Excluded from inventions, respectively patentablity, are the business methods
alone, not the devices for applying or using them.
4.
The Bulgarian law provides the possibility for protection of business methods with
copyrights. It is possible and often recommended to keep the buisness methods as
commercial and production secret under the Law on Protection of the Competition.
5.
Business methods alone cannot be patented in Bulgaria at the moment .
6.
There are no court decisions regarding business methods.
The opinion of the Bulgarian National Group of AIPPI is the following:
1.
The business methods, broadly defined, require special legal provisions to
constitute them as inventions.
2.
Art. 27 TRIPS gives the possibility to provide patent protection for business
methods if they meet the requirements for patentability. If the methods themselves
meet the requirements for patentability then the exclusion from it question the
conformity with the TRIPS agreements.
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3.
The patentability of business methods taken by themselves should be studied, and
possibly admitted.
4.
There should be no distinction between the methods as long as they meet the
requirements for patentability. The scope of protection will depend on the definition
of the business methods as patentable objects, and shall be explicitly stipulated due
to the specific character of the object, including organizational character, the
specific use of the business methods etc.
5.
Rules concerning compensation for losses, burden of proof etc. will depend on the
specific norms for patentability of business methods and protection provided to
them.
Résumé
Le defit lance par la necessite d'information nouvelles et la prise en consideration de
l'importance des resultats intellectuels determines incitent a une analyse minutiese des
resultats acquis en matiere de protection juridique des objects de la propriete intellectuelle
et a la recherche des solutions visant a promouvoir et a defendre les droit subjectifs se
rapportant a des decisions importantes pour l'industrie et le commerce.
Le Group national bulgare attache un interet particulier a la necessite de protection des
methodes d'activite dans le domain du business.
Les normes juridicques qui existent en matiere de la brevetabilite et de la delivrance d'un
brevet ne sont pas suffisantes pour etablir une telle protection. Is est necessaire de metre
en place un regime special de brevetabilite des methods des activites dans le domaine du
business, lesquelles methodes pour le moment actuel pourraient etre mises sous la
protection des oeuvres de la litterature ou de la science ou bien encore d'etra envisagees
comme know-how.
Zusammenfassung
Die Herausforderung des Beduerfnisses nach neuen Informationstechnologien und
Beruecksichtigung der Bedeutsamkeit bestimmter intelektuellen Ergebnisse fuert zur
aufmerksamen Analyse des Erreichtens im Bereich des Rechtsschutzes von Objekten des
geistigen Eigentums und Suche nach Entscheidungen zur Foerderung und zum Schutz
der Subjektivrechte im Zusammenhang mit wichtigen fuer die Industrie
Handelstechnologien.
Die bulgarische Nationalgruppe verhaelt sich mit Interesse und Aufmerksamkeit zum
Beduerfniss nach Schutz der Arbeitshandlungsmethoden.
Die existierenden Rechtsnormen bezueglich der Patentfaehigkeit und der
Patentausstellung sind fuer die Verwirklichung eines solchen Schutzes nicht ausreichend.
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Es ist notwendig,
spezielle Regelungen fuer die Patentfaehigkeit der
Arbeitshandlungsmethoden einzufuehren, die zur Zeit unter den Schutz der Literatur oder
der Wissenschaft gestellt werden koennten, oder als know-how und show-how betrachtet
werden.
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