Wed, 24 Sep 2003
Sanity prevailing in one small arena
It looks like there's been a minor
victory
for sanity today in the patent wars, as the
European Parliament today approved a draft Directive that
paves the way for the introduction of software patents in
Europe -- but, thanks to
grass-roots petitioning by critics of the measures,
the original draft has been moderated considerably by MEPs.
The revised (and passed) directive doesn't allow
the patenting of business methods,
severely restricts the types of software that can be
patented (excluding software found in embedded devices like
mobile phones, video recorders and set-top boxes), and
restricts software patents to "true inventions". Oh, and only
manufacturers (not users) of patent-infringing devices can be
sued.
The fight isn't over yet, but the worst excesses of the US
patent system -- which is driving many US companies to
outsource their software development to foreign companies
because of litigation fears -- look as if they've been held at
bay.
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posted at: 19:20 | path: /copyright | permanent link to this entry
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