IP: EUROPEAN BOARD VOTES TO ALLOW SOFTWARE PATENTS

[Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>]

> Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2000 17:19:52 +0200 (MET DST)
> From: Arun-Kumar Tripathi <tripathi () statistik uni-dortmund de>
> To: "Prof. David Farber" <farber () cis upenn edu>
> Subject: EUROPEAN BOARD VOTES TO ALLOW SOFTWARE PATENTS
>
> Dear Prof. David Farber,
>
> Hello -I thought this note might interest to IP list
> members..forwarded via NewsScan Daily. --Arun
>
> An administrative board for the European Patents Office has voted 10-9 to
> allow patents for software in Europe, with a final decision coming in
> November at a conference of the all the countries represented by the
> Office. Software patents are available in the U.S. and Japan, and
> multinational companies have been arguing for unlimited patenting as part
> of a uniform global legal framework. Critics, however, fear that large
> companies will use the patenting process as a tool to squelch innovative
> technologies that threaten their standard products. Among the dissenting
> countries were Germany, the U.K. and France. The head of the German
> delegation expressed his reservations over the change: "We would have
> problems with the U.S. tendency to patent everything that can be patented.
> That would stifle innovation and cause a glut of litigation." (Wall Street
> Journal 13 Sep 2000)
> <http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB968792884357682385.htm>