The government is appealing against a High Court decision that granted Symbian a patent on a computer program. The ruling overturns a refusal by the UK Intellectual Property Office to give the mobile phone firm a patent.
The case is being watched with interest because before now it was rarely possible to patent dedicated computer programs in Europe. The UK IPO has launched an appeal to get guidance on the circumstances in which it can grant such patents. In its original application Symbian wanted a patent on a specific way to structure and update the collection of small files, called a Dynamic Link Library, found in many modern operating systems.
