[Patents] EUROPEAN BOARD VOTES TO ALLOW SOFTWARE PATENTS

[Bernard Lang Bernard.Lang@inria.fr]

NewsScan Daily, 13 September 2000 ("Above The Fold")


EUROPEAN BOARD VOTES TO ALLOW SOFTWARE PATENTS
An administrative board for the European Patents Office has voted 10-9 to 
allow patents for software in Europe, with a final decision coming in 
November at a conference of the all the countries represented by the 
Office. Software patents are available in the U.S. and Japan, and 
multinational companies have been arguing for unlimited patenting as part 
of a uniform global legal framework. Critics, however, fear that large 
companies will use the patenting process as a tool to squelch innovative 
technologies that threaten their standard products. Among the dissenting 
countries were Germany, the U.K. and France. The head of the German 
delegation expressed his reservations over the change: "We would have 
problems with the U.S. tendency to patent everything that can be patented. 
That would stifle innovation and cause a glut of litigation." (Wall Street 
Journal 13 Sep 2000)
http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB968792884357682385.htm


----

If someone has a (preferably electronic) copy of the original article,
it would be welcome.

BTW, I am told that among the voters in favor of software patenting
are major industrial countries such as Lichtenstein and Monaco, who
did make the difference ... one wonders about the motivations ...

I do not know the exact list of voters, but it appears clearly that
more work is needed in some countries to inform the political powers
concerning these issues.  But note that the votes of the 3 countries
above, unhoped for not so long ago, show that we can lobby effectively
on these issues.

Bernard Lang

-- 
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