問20
頻出度★★★
コンピュータソフトウェアを使った新しいビジネスの方法に関して取得できる知的財産権として, 適切なものはどれか。
平成23年度 秋期 ITパスポート試験 問20
ストラテジ系法務 › 知的財産権
This question's explanation and your answers so far.
解説
問 20
Incorrectア
A design right (the Design Act) protects the appearance of a product or of a screen design — its shape, pattern, or color — that produces an aesthetic impression through the sense of sight. The way a business is run is an intangible scheme, not a visual design, so it is not covered by a design right.
Incorrectイ
A utility model right (the Utility Model Act) protects a device relating to the shape, structure, or combination of an article — a so-called minor invention. Its subject matter is limited to “articles”, so a method or a software-based business scheme cannot be registered, which makes this choice inappropriate.
Incorrectウ
A trademark right (the Trademark Act) protects identifying marks such as characters, figures, and symbols used to distinguish a company's own goods or services from those of other companies. It can protect a service name or a logo, but it cannot protect the business method itself that makes the service work.
- エ
正解 The correct answer is エ, the patent right. What the Patent Act protects is “a highly advanced creation of technical ideas that utilizes the laws of nature” — that is, an invention — and an invention includes not only a product (a device) but also a “method”. A new way of doing business that uses computer software is recognized as such a “method invention” as long as the information processing performed by the software is concretely realized using hardware resources, and a patent right can therefore be obtained for it as what is called a business model patent. New schemes for online payment or internet reservation are typical examples. Among the four industrial property rights, the patent right is the only one that can cover “a new scheme or way of doing things itself”.
ここがポイント
- Business model patent: a new business method that uses software becomes eligible for a patent right as a “method invention” as long as the information processing performed by the software is concretely realized with hardware resources.
- How the four industrial property rights divide up their subject matter — a patent right covers inventions (products and methods), a utility model right covers devices relating to the shape or structure of an article, a design right covers the design of a product or a screen, and a trademark right covers the identifying marks of goods and services.
用語