Re: [Patents] state of the patent in europe?

[Xavi Drudis Ferran <xdrudis@tinet.org>]

El Fri, Mar 01, 2002 at 01:36:28PM +0100, Mathieu CARBONNEAUX deia:
> Hello, 
> 
> I'm not regular reader of this mailling list...
> 
> But, who know if new patent policy is voted by europen community?
> 
There is a new directive proposal by BSA that the Comission wants 
to get approved by the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. 
It was published Feb. 20th 2002. 

see http://swpat.ffii.org/vreji/papri/eubsa-swpat0202/indexen.html

I don't know wxactly when this will be voted (but would like to know).

> In page of eurolinux.org, they expect that the community whoud be voted,
> in 2000?! 
>
Software patents were not accepted back then. 

But the European Patent Office ammended their examination guidelines 
to make their examiners accept them (they were accepting them before 
the new guidelines, but this is somewhat more undisciplined, because 
they've written it down as daily routine). The European Patent Convention 
still does not allow them, but the EPO is very creative when it 
comes to interpreting the EPC. No one really believes that those 
software patents granted are valid, and nobody tries to enforce them, 
but if the new directive proposal passes, they will be enforceable. 

 
> And now they are voted or not?
>
They will be soon, so it's time we all talk our representatives about it. 
 
> Mathieu
> 
> 

-- 
Xavi Drudis Ferran
xdrudis@tinet.org