From smets@ens.fr Sun, 14 May 2000 17:20:01 +0200
Date: Sun, 14 May 2000 17:20:01 +0200
From: Jean-Paul Smets smets@ens.fr
Subject: [Patents] A few documents

Questions
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For those who want to know which questions were sent bt DG15 about "software patents",
	http://www.freepatents.org/agree/questions.html
This document clearly shows that the commission never considered at any time a "less software patents" approach and did not take into account the possibility not to patent software within the TRIPS
framework (read Paul Hartnack, Comptroller General, The Patent Office on this http://www.patent.gov.uk/softpat/en/1000.html) 

A few examples
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I also posted a few examples of patents granted by the EPO (like one click) or being filed at ?
	http://www.freepatents.org/examples
	http://www.freepatents.org/examples/epo/list

HELP US TO SEARCH
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PLEASE HELP ME TO FIND MORE EXAMPLES OF FUNNY/STUPID SOFTWARE OR INTERNET PATENTS
(and send them to jp@smets.com as well as phm@a2e.de with subject : STUPID PATENT)

To search more examples, just use
	http://ep.espacenet.com/
(it's easy) and in French
	http://lu.espacenet.com/
(Luxemborg has a better UI. INPI is much harder to use)

For example, if you type "auction" in the "simple text" field, you get a list which includes
  EP0987644 System and method for conducting an electronic auction over an open communications network
I am interedted only the the references starting by EP

If you type "amazon" in the company field, you get a list. Go to page 2 and you will find the "one-click" patent under EP***** reference.

For more information on patent searching
	http://www.freepatents.org/examples/patent_searching.html
(I did not write this masterpiece, someone at EC did)

JPS.




