EU Rapporteur Publishes Software Patent

Sanity writes "Michel Rocard, economist and former French prime minister, has just published a report on the European Software Patents Directive. He is the European Parliament's draftsperson or "rapporteur" on the directive, and so it is likely that his views will be taken very seriously. The anti-software patent lobby group FFII like the report, saying that it "contains all the necessary ingredients for a directive that achieves what most member state governments say they want to achieve: to exclude computer programs from patentability while allowing computer-controlled technical inventions to be patented." The Directive will have its second reading on July 6th."

Comments

im confused

[Anonymous Coward]

Does this mean that a computer simulation of a patented product or technique would be legal?

Michel Rocard

[lovebyte]

Agree or not with his past politics, there is no doubt in my mind that Michel Rocard is one of those extremely rare honest politicians. As soon as I had heard that he would be the "rapporteur" for the software patent directive, I breathed a sight of relief. There is light at the end of the tunnel.