James Delahunty
5 Jul 2005 15:50
The EU Parliament moved towards rejecting a proposed law that would make a single way of patenting software throughout the European Union. The move effectively would kill the legislation since lawmakers have no plans to set forth another version. The vote is set for Wednesday on the so-called patent directive that would give software companies EU-wide software patent protection for computerized inventions.
"It seems the momentum is growing for the rejection of the proposal," said Federico de Girolamo, spokesman for the parliament's legislative committee. Some major companies located in the European Union including Nokia are fighting hard for the adoption of the bill citing a need to invest in research and development whereas open source activists are fighting hard against the bill saying it will hurt innovation.
"We'd miss a golden opportunity if the bill got rejected," said Marc MacGann, director general of EICTA, a group representing 10,000 companies including Nokia and Alcatel SA. "Currently there are 25 ways of interpreting patent. This law would bring harmonization and simplify things." Protestors gathered outside parliament on Tuesday wearing yellow vests with a "No to software patents" logo and holding banners saying "Software patents kill innovation" and "U.S. patents go out,".
Source:
BusinessWeek