Slashdot Mirror
New EU-Wide Patent System Approved
Dupple writes "There's a two page article over on IT World detailing a new patent system passed by the European Parliament that will unify the patent process across most countries in the EU. Quoting: 'Parliament adopted all three proposed regulations needed to form the new patent system on Tuesday: the regulation on a Unitary Patent, the language regime and the formation of a new unified patent court system. Not all European Union member states want a part in the new system: Italy and Spain refused to participate, although they may join at any time. The new system will cut the cost of obtaining a patent in the participating countries by up to 80 percent, the Parliament said. The patents will be made available in English, French and German and applications will have to be made in one of those three languages. Not everyone was pleased with the newly adopted regulation though. MEPs opposing the adopted text are concerned the new system is going to be bad for innovation and business, and by voting for the text, the Parliament is giving away powers, they said. The new regulation "means the European Parliament will abdicate all its political powers to an organization ... that is outside of the E.U.," said Christian Engström, Pirate Party member of parliament, adding that he still wanted a European patent as long as it did not hamper innovation as he believes the proposal in its current form does.'"
Does this mean I can get the EU patent on rounded corners?
joking but seriously I hope that they have some kind of common sense approach over there.
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
European Parliament adopts deeply flawed unitary patent, gives up power over innovation policy
Software patents have got to go. And with them, inventions that "can be implemented in software" also need to go. I saw nothing in either link talking about software patents.
Here's an idea: All technology is property of the Government.
If you do something and decide to keep it trade-secret, the Government might decide it looks nice and they'll tear it down to figure out how it works, then publish it. If you submit it to the Government, they'll keep it secret. For like, 20 years. Worst of all, if the Government likes something and can't functionally figure it out, they might just show up and ask.
Patent submission is free. There is no patent court.
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I honestly hope the patent wars continue to escalate until the only people making any money in the tech industry are the lawyers.
I hope things get so bad that when all is said and done, patent-mania makes tulip-mania look like a small price fluctuation.
A recent TED talk showed me how far patents can go. Patenting obvious things which give convenience is bad. But patenting something which saves lives is... I don't know apropriate word for this. But this is reality. And we must be changing that.
I honestly hope the patent wars continue to escalate until the only people making any money in the tech industry are the lawyers.
I hope things get so bad that when all is said and done, patent-mania makes tulip-mania look like a small price fluctuation.
Do you mean you want to turn the whole tech industry into SCO like IP zombies? are you insane? What we need patent and copyright reform, not a dark age.
---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
Do you mean you want to turn the whole tech industry into SCO like IP zombies? are you insane? What we need patent and copyright reform, not a dark age.
Right now, there are people salivating at the concept of a free for all patent system, because they think a business model based exclusively on patent licensing is both lucrative and sustainable. At the same time there is a complete lack of action from lawmakers because right now the tech industry is thriving. It's not going to be until it costs more to license a patent than it does to make something out of it that people will come to their senses.