From sf@fermigier.com  Wed Nov 21 06:54:01 2001
From: sf@fermigier.com (Stefane Fermigier)
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2001 07:54:01 +0100
Subject: [Patents] German Gov't publishes Swpat Study
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.4.33.0111160647080.1584-100000@mulix.oas.a2e.de>; from phm@a2e.de on Fri, Nov 16, 2001 at 07:12:55AM +0100
References: <Pine.LNX.4.33.0111160647080.1584-100000@mulix.oas.a2e.de>
Message-ID: <20011121075400.V82716@math.jussieu.fr>

On Fri, Nov 16, 2001 at 07:12:55AM +0100, PILCH Hartmut wrote:
> Under
> 
> http://www.bmwi.de/Homepage/Presseforum/Pressemitteilungen/2001/1B15prm2.jsp
> 
> you find a study conducted by three well known patent movement think-tanks
> [...]
> swpat.  The BMWi and the participants are to be commended for the courage
> of publishing these results, and we will need to study them in more detail
> in the next few days.  Some remarks can already be found under
> 
> 	http://swpat.ffii.org/vreji/papri/bmwi-fhgmpi01/

Here's at least the comments from ZDNet UK and some UK law attorney:

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2826171,00.html

"The German Ministry of Economics and Technology has spoken out against the
broadening of software patent laws within Europe, on the basis that it would
stifle innovation and the open-source movement. 

[...]

However, experts say that the opposition to broader software patents voiced by
the German government, open-source advocates, software developers and others
is likely to make little difference to the outcome of the EC's plans. Europe
is moving towards broader software patents as a way of putting Europe on the
same footing as the United States, which many businesses feel is necessary to
enable them to compete.

[...]

Patent law is much broader, allowing companies to patent the way software
works. It also opens the door to unintentional patent violations, since it can
be difficult and expensive to determine whether patents exist that cover the
software a company is developing. 

The introduction of broader software patent laws in Britain is likely to invoke
opposition from smaller companies, who could not necessarily afford to comply
with the patent system. "It is an expensive process, and large multinational
companies will put a patent on everything that moves. Smaller companies, which
may be more innovative, won't be able to afford to do this," said Salmon. A
U.K. patent currently costs around $14,000 (10,000), whereas a worldwide
patent could be as much as $140,000. 

Legal experts agree that software is a complicated product to patent. This is
because it is difficult to guard against the unilateral infringement of
patented designs, owing to the scale of the market. "The reason behind patent
systems is to protect people's innovations, but software is so fast-moving, and
evolves constantly based on new hardware in operating systems," said Salmon."

	S.

-- 
Stfane Fermigier, Tel: +33 (0)6 63 04 12 77 (mobile).
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