[Openstandaarden] EU Parliament Approves Software Patents

[Peter Vandenabeele]

On Wed, Sep 24, 2003 at 03:39:42PM +0200, Bert Rodiers wrote:
> De meesten zullen het ondertussen wel ergens gezien hebben:
> 
> http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/03/09/24/1253227.shtml?tid=155&tid=185&tid=99

Het artikel op Dow Jones News hierover (duidelijk geschreven 
vanuit de Amerikaanse groot-industrie) vind ik toch wel sterk. 

http://biz.yahoo.com/djus/030924/0711000338_4.html

In feite geeft de pro-patent lobby hier toe dat ze deze slag
verloren hebben en ze hopen op "correctie" bij de review door
de nationale regeringen. Dit sluit sterk aan bij de interpretatie
van Harmut die het ook als een overwinning beschouwt.

Het lijkt er nu toch wel op dat de lobbying door een aantal 
groepen effectief geholpen heeft. Reden om de druk te blijven 
handhaven in de volgende stappen van dit proces.

Peter

> ...
> Big U.S. and European technology companies, such as 
> Microsoft, Alcatel SA , SAP AG and Nokia Corp. , pushed hard for 
> approval.
> 
> But several amendments by environmentalists and socialists left 
> these companies deeply disappointed.
>
> One amendment strips legal protection on patents in many sectors, 
> including mobile phones, video recorders and set-top boxes.
>
> "Many inventions won't be worth patenting because the patent 
> can't be enforced," said Leo Baumann, spokesman for 
> Brussels-based European Information and Communication Technology 
> Association, which represents large European and U.S. 
> technology and communications companies.
>
> Parliament also rejected a business-friendly amendment that 
> would have made it easier to enforce patents. Patent-holders 
> are forced to sue end-users of their products, rather than the 
> original suppliers. "Patents won't be enforceable because you 
> can't pursue suppliers directly," Baumann said.
>
> Before becoming law, the legislation must be approved by 
> E.U. governments. Industry hopes the E.U. governments will 
> reject the Parliament's amendments, and move closer to the 
> original proposal by the E.U. Commission. Government ministers 
> will discuss the issue at a Nov. 10 meeting.