Re: [Patents] patents in europe...

[Hartmut Pilch <phm@a2e.de>]

> > Uh. That explains nothing, because in the previous sw pat case (yr
> > 2000), many MEPs were in strong opposition; they knew what's
> > actually happening. I hope that this case the plenary vote will sink
>
> This is news. I didn't know (or don't remember) that
> the European Parliament (MEP = Member of the European Parliament)
> was at all involved in the EPC reform in 2000. I thought the
> EPC is not part of the EU and therefore at most MPs from contracting
> states would be aware, not MEPs.

In fact the EP voted for the Greenbook on the Community Patent, and,
piggybacked onto it in recital 19 or so, somewhere in the back, a call for
legalisation of software patents.  That was 1998, I think.

In 2000 the EP wasn't involved at all, but some MEPs were, like many other
politicians, aware of the problems.

In 2000 there was a coalition of people who were against software patents
with people who wanted to shift power from the EPO to the EU.

-- 
Hartmut Pilch, FFII & Eurolinux Alliance              tel. +49-89-12789608
Protecting Innovation against Patent Inflation       http://swpat.ffii.org/
145,000 votes 400 firms against software patents     http://noepatents.org/