從資訊工程角度論我國電腦軟體相關發明專利審查基準及其類型化

以往電腦軟體不被認為具專利適格性，因而其在智慧財產權方面的保護，多落在著作權或營業秘密的範疇，惟隨著資訊科技之發展，此見解於近年已有所改變，而我國現行法亦肯認電腦軟體具有專利適格性。然而，電腦軟體相關發明專利的具體審查基準為何，國內外之學說及實務仍未有定論，我國雖不乏探討此議題之相關文獻，但討論多僅止於法規及法院實務見解的比較法分析，本文希望能活用資訊工程領域的相關知識，即演算法、計算機結構及作業系統等三大領域，從軟體開發之基礎領域出發，探討軟體發明專利的具體審查基準為何，並嘗試進一步類型化不同軟體發明專利的審查基準，藉此提供實務界法律面以外的背景知識，以便在具體個案中判斷一電腦軟體是否滿足取得發明專利之條件；另一方面，也希望在引入資工領域相關的知識時，能令業界更容易了解於現行制度下，如何取得軟體發明專利，而有助於其發展。　　另外，由於我國電腦軟體相關發明審查基準亦受歐洲專利局及美國專利商標局之審查基準影響或有相當類似性，而兩者分別於2018年11月及2019年1月更新，變動之處或值得我國借鏡，因此本文亦就兩者與軟體發明較相關的部分加以評析，從比較法研究提供另一種反思現行制度之途徑。

關鍵字

電腦軟體相關發明專利；審查基準類型化；專利適格性；請求項明確性；進步性要件

並列摘要

Although computer software related inventions are patentable under the computer software related inventions guideline of Taiwan, whether the subject matter deserves a patent protection remains debatable. The past related studies mainly focus on the law theories, regulation and court decisions. None of them try to establish a patent guideline which are based on knowledge of computer science. The thesis analyzes the patent guidelines of computer software related inventions of Taiwan with the basic concept of algorithm, computer architecture and operating system. Besides, the patent guidelines of computer software related inventions of Taiwan is significantly affected by the related guidelines of European Patent Office (EPO) and United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Both of the related guidelines of EPO and USTPO are revised lately. The newest modifications may be too important to ignore. Therefore, the thesis also introduce the newest version of computer software related inventions of EPO and USTPO to provide a comparative law perspective.