Re: [Patents] O'Reilly DevCenter: Perspective on Software Patents in Europe

[pelegrin@labri.fr]

Hello all,

Selon Seth Johnson <seth.johnson@RealMeasures.dyndns.org>:
> I never use the term "CII patents," though I use the term "CII
> Directive" despite the fact that the actual name of the thing is
> "Directive on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented
> Inventions."  :-)
>
> You're mouthing general principles to a pretty careful and
> skilled practitioner.  It's a useless exercise.  I'd hate to
> actually make a mistake!  The certainly important thing, that we
> all see clearly, is to be sure to emphasize the contradiction
> between the title and what the Directive accomplishes.

Well, the title is not contradictory, but wilfully confusing...
What a computer implements is nothing than computer programs,
so this directive is really about patents on computer programs.
A way for the pro-swpat lobby to say afterwards to suckers who
thought that the directive could only be used to patent washing
machines : "Ha! You don't understand technology!".
So since calling an animal with four legs and which does "meow"
is an unambiguous shortcut, let us call this directive the
"software patents directive".
As Florian Mueller recalled, even the pro-patent side had Freudian
slips and talked about software patents. So...


                             f.p.


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