[Patents] What the EPO does could be illegal

[Jean-Paul Smets jp@smets.com]

Jean-Jacques de Jong wrote:
> 
> Tom Vogt wrote:
> >
> > > Even software patent advocates must recognize this problem.  In fact, 
> > > imho
> > > the above statement from Mr Bezos is the only one in his letter that I 
> > > can
> > > really subscribe to and recommend as a progress.  The conclusions he 
> > > draws
> > > (like limiting the duration of software patents), are of course neither
> > > practicable nor really justified, as you point out correctly.  The only
> > > solution to the patent crisis that I see is:  take software and business
> > > methods out of the patent system and, if necessary, design sui generis
> > > systems for them.
> >
> > I don't think that will solve the problem, not as long as lawyers are
> > involved.
> >
> > for example, the software patent I currently oppose (7val's Location
> > Poisoning, see my website at http://www.lemuria.org/Software/unpoison)
> > is being submitted for patent even though software patents are illegal
> > in europe.
> > the submission thus simply reads "a process for...",
> 
> This is perfectly allowable in Europe, and has been so for years. What was 
> not
> allowable up to two recent IBM decisions was claiming "a computer program
> having instructions for...", or  "a computer program product...".
> 

Yes, the EPO grants many things, and the more patents the EPO grants, the 
bigger
the budget. But some people, including the German Minister of Justice, 
consider
that the EPO is going to far and is misunderstanding the Munich Convention.

It is not certain that the 12.000+ software patents granted by the EPO could 
be
used against a software *publisher* because a judge could consider, just like
the german minister of justice did, that the EPO is going to far and is
misunderstanding the Munich Convention by granting patents on something which
innovation is a computer programme.

But, if the EC legalises software patents, it will be quite difficult for a
judge to decide that the 12.000+ software patents (75% of which owned by US
companies) granted by the EPO are illegal.

That's why one may consider software patents granted by the EPO as some kind 
of
trojan horse to attack SMEs in Europe some day.


JPS.