Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

UK Gov't EU Software Patents Public Meeting

Posted by timothy on from the contribute-by-proxy dept.

drseuk writes "The UK government is holding a meeting to discuss the proposed EU Computer Implemented Inventions Directive (a.k.a. Software Patents) on 14th December. Lord Sainsbury (Science Minister), MPs and invited members of the public (including myself) will be present. An hour has been set aside for questions and answers, so this is a golden opportunity to raise our concerns. I'd value input on good questions to raise. Here is the Patent Office's FAQ on the subject and an example of a UK patent recently granted to ARM Ltd. for 'Simulation of Data Processing Apparatus.' Do you agree that this patent should have been awarded?"

3 of 17 comments (clear)

  1. Misleading headline. by MindStalker · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Shouldn't there be a coma or something in that headline.

    As it is it reads the the UK is patenting the process of a "Public Meeting".

    Scared me for a second there.

  2. Small and medium sized enterprises by eetiiyupy · · Score: 2, Insightful
    The company I work for is larger than an SME - it's sort of a small large company. It's big enough to employ staff to look at contracts, one of us has a law degree. We have no time to lodge patents. Our products do not generate enough income to pay for patents to be registered and defended. It is pretty likely that other companies have enough booby trap patents to stop us trading.

    If it's a problem for us, then the SMEs will be in much worse shape. So the question is, where does his Lordship think that these SMEs are going to get the money to pay for all the patent agents they are going to need, and how can they defend themselves against the international mega-corps which have been doing defensive registration for years?

  3. Limiting the patent validity period by chrisvdb · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think an important step in the right direction would be to limit patents (all patents, not only SW patents) to -let's say- the average product lifetime in the sector...

    In the case of SW that would probably be something like 3 years.

    The patent system is clearly broken right now, but that doesn't mean that patents are bad by definition. They *can* stimulate innovation, but only if implemented right.

    Cheers,
    Chris.