EU Amends Software Patent Directive (Suggestions)

jopet writes "The EU has amended its draft proposal for a directive on how to handle patents on "computer-implemented inventions'. Several harsh points have been dropped and clarifications on what is patentable at all have been added. Good to see that protests and petitions can make a difference." YHBT. These are the suggestions from June.

Comments

Amendment 20, Article 6 a (new)

[perttu]

Article 6a

Member States shall ensure that wherever the use of a patented technique is needed for the sole purpose of ensuring conversion of the conventions used in two different computer systems or network so as to allow communication and exchange of data content between them, such use is not considered to be a patent infringement

Some points

[sufehmi]

• "...(online) petition can make a difference" ?
  I won't be too sure about that, not when many MEP doesn't (have time to) browse Internet regularly.
  (read Tom Chance's story about his lobbying efforts)
  
  
• It STILL allows software to be patented.
  
  
• Although with many restrictions, including declaring that business method/algorithm to be non-patentable.
  
  
• BUT we have witnessed cases where corporations are able to twist interpretations, and challenge everyone who questioned to go to court.
  Small companies/individuals, which can not afford the cost, will simply admit defeat and comply to whatever the big corporations are demanding them to.
  
  
• So personally, I think we still need to do a lot of real (not virtual) lobbying to ensure that software are not patentable.
  EU have no software-patent legislation now, and to my knowledge, there are no CLEAR cases that justifies this (feel free to enlighten me though)
  

Just my 2 pence on the topic.

Re:Insightful?

[-brazil-]

You may be thinking about patenting processes, ideas, DNA and other rubbish but the EU system isn't as abused or open to abuse as the US.

Actually, it is. Or at least trying very hard to be. The European Patent Office has been issuing software patents for years, even though it isn't allowed to. They can't be enforced yet, but that will change if the directive passes and is implemented.

Furthermore, the quality of the examination of patent application has decreased drastically for some time now.