05.23.08

IAM Denies Software Patents Knock on Europe’s Back Door

Posted in Microsoft, Patents, Europe, America, Asia at 6:24 am by Roy Schestowitz

Not yet anyway…

IAM mentions Digital Majority and argues that the recent powwow about software patents through Europe’s back door seems unjustified, or at least premature.

Finally, the Digital Majority website – which is very firmly in the anti-software patent camp – is reporting, in somewhat of an alarmist manner, that the US and Europe are long to do a deal on harmonising laws concerning patenting software. It’s not true, of course, but there may be some grain of reality in the fact that the European Commission and the US government are at least discussing the potential alignment of some aspects of their respective patent regimes. It is something that we reported on last year.

Here is the press release which seems most relevant to this. [via Digital Majority]

A year ago, at the EU-U.S. Summit meeting of 30 April 2007, our leaders committed themselves to deepen and broaden transatlantic economic ties and signed the Framework for Advancing Transatlantic Economic Integration (Framework), which set up a joint political-level body, the Transatlantic Economic Council (or TEC), comprising U.S. Cabinet Members and European Commissioners, to oversee implementation of the Framework’s work program. Since last April, we have been working energetically towards that goal.

To those in the EU who are interested in the effect of the Community Patent on software patents in Europe, the following introduction to EUPACO-3 may say something.

With our third European Patent Conference we look again into means of enhancing the patent system in Europe. With the planned Community Patent and the European Patent Court in stormy waters and intense debate on the future patent framework in the EU under the French presidency, patent policy stays an ever amazing, controversial field.

Be aware of the fact that Microsoft lobbyists are actively working to make this Community Patent a reality. It may be another back door to software patents in the EU.

The forces of greed work relentlessly to build fences around their software monopolies, even in India. This mustn’t be ignored because ignoring a problem does not make it go away; au contraire — it helps it quietly expand without scrutiny.

Lulling the watchers? Not yet. There is too much to lose. █

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