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UK Intellectual Property Office Rejects
Freedom of Information Request
,----[ Quote ]
| On the 8th of November one of our members,
| Gordon Harrison, submitted a Freedom of
| Information (FOI) request to the UK
| Intellectual Property Office (IPO). The request
| was for a complete list of the organisations
| that made submissions for the report 'The Way
| Ahead; A Strategy for Copyright in the Digital
| Age', together with a copy of each submission.
| The IPO had already published some of the
| submissions but according to their website a
| number of submissions were made in confidence.
| Gordon asked that they be made public under the
| the terms of the Freedom of Information Act.
`----
http://www.pro-imaging.org/content/view/825/32
Mystery co. sues Apple, IBM, Microsoft, Adobe, Oracle...
,----[ Quote ]
| An east-Texas company, BetaNet LLC, has filed a
| patent-infringement suit against Apple,
| Microsoft, Adobe, Oracle, IBM, SAP, and a dozen
| other companies.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/16/mongo_patent_infringement_suit/
âStaff at the European Patent Office went on strike accusing the organization
of corruption: specifically, stretching the standards for patents in order to
make more money.
âOne of the ways that the EPO has done this is by issuing software patents in
defiance of the treaty that set it up.â
--Richard Stallman
Recent:
Intellectual Property Office approves software patent for UK
,----[ Quote ]
| Software that allows programmers to program a mobile phone system remotely
| from a computer can be patented because it is more than just a software
| program, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has ruled.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/07/ipo_approve_software_patent/
G 3/08 Observations - Your Last Chance
,----[ Quote ]
| Of these, some are very interesting, some are fairly pedestrian, some are
| horribly wordy and full of legal 'analysis', footnotes and references, some
| are fairly predictable ill-informed anti-patent rants, while others are
| merely irrelevant. The IPKat (who still can't see what on Earth TRIPs has to
| do with the EPO) will let his readers decide which are which.
`----
http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2009/04/g-308-observations-your-last-chance.html
European Software Patents Version 3.0
,----[ Quote ]
| (B) IF QUESTION 2 (A) IS ANSWERED IN THE NEGATIVE, IS A FURTHER TECHNICAL
| EFFECT NECESSARY TO AVOID EXCLUSION, SAID EFFECT GOING BEYOND THOSE EFFECTS
| INHERENT IN THE USE OF A COMPUTER OR DATA STORAGE MEDIUM TO RESPECTIVELY
| EXECUTE OR STORE A COMPUTER PROGRAM?
|
| Congratulations. That is more creative for circumventing the law.
| âT1173/97 introduced a rather ugly idea that a method of operating a computer
| or a program in order to be have a technical character, requires a
| so-called âfurther technical effectâ. They said that whenever you run a
| program on a computer, you have a technical effect. But that is not
| sufficient. They wanted something beyond what happens whenever you run any
| old program. So they said for methods or programs you have to have a further
| technical effect, but the apparatus is always within the realms of
| patentabilityâ4
`----
http://www.tmplab.org/2009/04/30/does-epo-grant-illegal-software-patents/
Don't change European software patent rules, say CIPA
,----[ Quote ]
| There have also been problems in the UK, where the Intellectual Property
| Office has issued four different Practice Notices relating to
| computer-implemented inventions in the last five years. CIPA is not in favour
| of such frequent changes, as patents have a lifetime of up to twenty years.
`----
http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/2009/04/dont-change-european-software-patent.html
Red Hat pitches software-patents-free Europe
,----[ Quote ]
| Red Hat is today expected to join others in making the case against the
| enforcement of patents in software across the European Union.
|
| The company is expected to submit an 11-page report to regulators, which
| makes the case that patents in software damages innovation in software.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/30/red_hat_europe_patents/
FOSDEM 2007 Status of Software Patents in Europe
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65C5-51unqI
Patents, Protests, Plebiscites, and Protecting your freedom
,----[ Quote ]
| When he attended a rally in Munich this month, Richard Stallman took time out
| of his busy schedule to talk with our News Editor, Britta WÃlfing. The
| conversation covered everything from Software as a Service, to patents,
| protests, international politics, and protecting your freedom.
`----
http://www.linux-magazine.com/online/features/patents_protests_plebiscites_and_protecting_your_freedom
More Amicus Curiae Briefs Submitted to Registrar of Enlarged Board Of Appeal in
Case G3/08
,----[ Quote ]
| If the Enlarged Board of Appeal should jump over the admissibility hurdle
| they will find themselves confronted with demands linke 'we want more of the
| same' from the usual pro-patent stakeholders interested in more or less
| maintaining the status quo, as well as with flawed 'get rid of software
| patents' rethoric of well-known abolitionist groups or individuals
| representing that way of thinking. Mr Bakels' approach brings in some fresh
| air but I am somewhat in doubt as to the EBA would dare even only to deal
| explicitly with such deviation from long established concepts of case law.
`----
http://www.ipjur.com/blog2/index.php?/archives/68-More-Amicus-Curiae-Briefs-Submitted-to-Registrar-of-Enlarged-Board-Of-Appeal-in-Case-G308.html#extended
Farmers, Politicians, Free Software Fans Demonstrate Against Patents
,----[ Quote ]
| Stallman warned against the threat patents pose to free farming and free
| software engineering, and heavily criticised the EPO for its grant practice.
| He called it an âevil and malicious organisationâ Europeans should try to get
| rid off and should in the first place try âto stop treating every EU
| institution as if it was sacred and inscrutable.â
`----
http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/04/18/farmers-politicians-free-software-fans-demonstrate-against-patents/
Richard Stallman, Farmers and the German CSU Party Unite Against Patents
,----[ Quote ]
| Members of the Foundation for Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), the
| Piratenpartei (Pirate Party), Greenpeace, the Misereor Catholic organization,
| and farmers' unions against the European Patent Office (EPO) recently
| assembled at a rally in Munich, Germany. Demonstrators included Richard
| Stallman, who added his own testimonial to those united against the EPO.
`----
http://www.linuxpromagazine.com/online/news/richard_stallman_farmers_and_the_german_csu_party_unite_against_patents
European Patent Office asks itself about software patents
,----[ Quote ]
| Sadly, the questions posed to the EBA are mined with typical EPO philosophy
| including their definitions of âtechnical effectâ, âfurther technical
| effectâ, âtechnical characterâ, âtechnical considerationsâ and other
| terminology they have used over the years. In that way they justified black
| being white, or more specifically the applicability of software patents (but,
| naturally, not âas suchâ).
|
| Seeing how the specific questions to the EBA are phrased (quite some traps in
| there), and what is not asked, it seems clear to me that any set of answers
| with just âyesâ or ânoâ is unable to speak against software patents in any
| meaningful way. Furthermore, if only one was to accept the premises of the
| questions, I submit that seemingly innocent arguments could be twisted in a
| number of ways to justify software patents. Nice job!
`----
http://log.openxp.net/2009/03/22/european-patent-office-asks-itself-about-software-patents/
EPO seeks to validate software patents without the European Parliament
,----[ Quote ]
| At the highest level of the European Patent Office (EPO), the legality of
| software patents in Europe is about to be tested. The FFII warns that the
| European Parliament is being bypassed by allowing a decision with EU-wide
| implications to be made without its involvement or any real debate.
|
| The President of the European Patent Office (EPO), Alison Brimelow, has asked
| the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) to decide on the interpretation of the
| European Patent Convention (EPC) regarding the exclusion of software from
| patentability. The EBA is replacing the European Parliament in order to
| validate software patents EU-wide without the need of a debate.
`----
http://press.ffii.org/Press_releases/EPO_seeks_to_validate_software_patents_without_the_European_Parliament
Commission repeats call for single EU patent
,----[ Quote ]
| The European Commission has reiterated its demand for the creation of a
| single European patent. It said the absence of such a protection is hindering
| the growth of technology companies in the European Union.
`----
http://www.out-law.com/page-9878
Patents for software?
,----[ Quote ]
| The EPO does not grant patents for computer programs or computer-implemented
| business methods that make no technical contribution. Programs for computers
| as such are excluded from patentability by virtue of Art. 52(2)(c) and (3)
| EPC. According to this patent law, a program for a computer is not patentable
| if it does not have the potential to cause a "further technical effect" which
| must go beyond the inherent technical interactions between hardware and
| software.
|
| On the other hand, a CII (even in the form of a computer program) that can
| provide this further technical effect can be patentable, subject to the other
| patentability requirements, such as novelty and inventive step. In this case,
| it would be recognised as providing a technical solution to a technical
| problem.
`----
http://www.epo.org/topics/issues/computer-implemented-inventions/software.html
Commission says the Community Patent is all about Software Patents
,----[ Quote ]
| The European Commission has issued a communication asking for the creation of
| the Community Patent in order for "ICT companies to protect their inventions
| in the single market". Large companies were rejecting the software patent
| directive, aiming to validate software patents via the Community Patent and
| skip the debate about patentable subject matter.
`----
http://stopsoftwarepatents.org/forum/t-139537/commission-says-the-community-patent-is-all-abou
EPO comments on EU pharmaceutical sector inquiry
,----[ Quote ]
| The EPO also welcomes the emphasis the report places on the need for the
| creation of a Community patent, and a centralised, specialised European
| patent judiciary.
`----
http://www.epo.org/topics/news/2009/20090318.html
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