Re: [Free-sklyarov-uk] [Fwd: [Patents] European Consitution]

[Andrew Rendle <andrew@andrewr.co.uk>]

iriXx wrote:

> forwarded from Patents list
> 
> -------- Original Message --------
> From: Jozef Halbersztadt
> To: patents@aful.org
> 
> The European Convention is finalising its work on the constitution.
> 
> http://european-convention.eu.int/docs/Treaty/cv00725.en03.pdf
> 
> A good time to take a position is running away. The project carries one
> sententece that should be of interest of the list members and should not
> not be left in silence.
> 
> In Article II-17 (Right to property) the standard statement on
> possessions is followed by a special paragraph: Intellectual property
> shall be protected.
> 
> I just read a disclaimer
> 
> http://www.wsis-ipr.org/ipr-disclaimer.html
> 
> "(...) This working group deals with copyright, patent, and trademark
> and related issues. The IPR name should be viewed as a mere convenience
> to regroup those issues under the very short acronym IPR ( that may also
> stand for "Intellectual Productions Rights" ). We also encourage
> everyome involved in the WSIS to use the word "intellectual property"
> with utmost precaution."
> 
> Are we not in right moment to initiate a campaign to replace
> "intellectual property" with "intelletual production" and move it from
> Article II-17 to II-13?"
> 
> Article II-13
> Freedom of the arts and sciences
> The arts and scientific research shall be free of constraint. Academic
> freedom shall be respected.
> 
> Proposed rough draft of the second paragraph:
> The public domain, copyright, patents and the other exclusion rights
> each one in own way are crucial to innovations, the spread of knowledge
> and culture, the access to our past, and promotion of the Progress of
> Science and Art. The law should guard a balance between support of free
> competition, public domain and protection of the Intellectual Production
> Rights as copyright and patents.
> 

(CC'ed to patents, apologies if this creates a completely screwed up
subject line)
I see two practical problems here:
1. That entire section is a direct copy & paste of another document
(http://db.consilium.eu.int/df/docs/en/CharteEN.pdf) and so they would
be unlikely to make any changes to it:
"The basic starting point underlying the [working group on the Charter
of Fundamental Rights of the European Union]'s conclusions on the
Charter is that the content of the Charter represented a consensus
reached by the previous Convention, a body which had special expertise
in fundamental rights and served as model for the present Convention,
and endorsed by the Nice European Council. The whole Charter - including
its statements of rights and principles, its preamble and, as a crucial
element, its "general provisions" - should be respected by this
Convention and not be re-opened by it."
(http://register.consilium.eu.int/pdf/en/02/cv00/00354en2.pdf)
2. Time - the final meetings are tomorrow and friday, so we're leaving
it very late to try to get changes made

Andrew
-- 
"That's the fastest coupling I've seen since the fat controller took
Thomas the Tank Engine from behind." - From the Bristol university
Pantomime Society's Spring Panto 2003.
http://www.andrewr.co.uk  http://www.andrewr.co.uk/contact.shtml
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