Les brevets sur les logiciels et leur danger pour le shareware

Europe Shareware software patents newsletter #8
Short issue on the European Parliament vote

25 September 2003

Webpage: http://www.europe-shareware.org/pages/brevets/brevets.fr.html
PDF    : http://www.europe-shareware.org/pages/brevets/newsletter8.us.pdf
Archive: http://www.europe-shareware.org/pages/brevets/newsletter8.us.html



CONTENTS:

1. Result of the European Parliament vote

2. Analyses

2. Articles

3. Press releases





----
1. Result of the European Parliament

Yesterday the Members of the European Parliament (MEP) voted on the
software patents directive.

The MEPs mainly voted in favour of amendments which clearly define what
is patentable and what is not patentable.

The main amendments are about:

- interoperability (a software patent can't cover a standard, a protocol
or any other technic about sharing data between different applications).

- exclusion of the "software claims".

- strict definition of the term "technical effect" that is the main
criteria for patentability (a technical effect must now be about handling
forces of nature).

- definition of the term "industry" (automated production of physical
products), really important since a patented technique must have an
industrial application according to the European Patent Convention.


The amendments approved:
http://www3.europarl.eu.int/omk/omnsapir.so/
pv2?PRG=DOCPV&APP=PV2&LANGUE=EN&SDOCT
A=2&TXTLST=1&POS=1&Type_Doc=RESOL&TPV
=PROV&DATE=240903&PrgPrev=PRG@TITRE|A
PP@PV2|TYPEF@TITRE|YEAR@03|Find@%2a%6
9%6e%76%65%6e%74%69%6f%6e%73|FILE@BIB
LIO03|PLAGE@1&TYPEF=TITRE&NUMB=1&DATEF=030924

Here you find an exhaustive list of the amendments voted:
http://www.softwarepatenter.dk/dokumenter/oprop.txt




----
2. Analyses

FFII:
"EU Parliament Votes for Real Limits on Patentability"
http://swpat.ffii.org/neuf/03/plen0924/index.en.html




----
3. Articles

- France

Le Figaro:
"Bras de fer entre petits et grands �diteurs"
http://www.lefigaro.fr/eco-hitech/20030924.FIG0255.html

"Les parlementaires s'affrontent sur les logiciels"
http://www.lefigaro.fr/eco-hitech/20030924.FIG0256.html


Le Monde:
"Une proposition de brevetage soul�ve la col�re des partisans du logiciel
libre"
http://www.lemonde.fr/article/0,5987,3214--335216-,00.html


Lib�ration:
"Le Parlement europ�en approuve la brevetabilit� des logiciels"
http://www.liberation.fr/page.php?Article=144369

"L'Europe r�siste aux brevets sur les logiciels"
http://www.liberation.fr/page.php?Article=144543


TF1:
"Un d�but de victoire pour les opposants aux brevets"
http://www.tf1.fr/news/multimedia/0,,1388569,00.html


Transfert:
""Nous avons r�v�l� la toxicit� du brevet logiciel" [Fran�ois Pellegrini]"
http://www.transfert.net/a9330


- Germany

Der Spiegel:
"Linus Torvalds Appell gegen Software- Patente"
http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/politik/0,1518,266725,00.html

"EU-Parlament schr�nkt Softwarepatente ein"
http://www.spiegel.de/netzwelt/politik/0,1518,267039,00.html


Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung:
"EU-Parlament will Einschr�nkungen f�r Softwarepatente"
http://www.faz.net/s/RubC8BA5576CDEE4A05AF8DFEC92E288D64/
Doc~ED0BB133F6E65449DAE66EEF9408F5C06~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html


Heise:
"Schlagabtausch im Europaparlament um umstrittene Softwarepatente"
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/wst-23.09.03-001/

"Europaparlament gibt reinen Softwarepatenten einen Korb"
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/data/jk-24.09.03-000/


- Poland

Gazeta Wyborcza:
"Patenty informatyczne przyjete, ale mocno poprawione"
http://www1.gazeta.pl/ue/1,36173,1688126.html




----
4. Press releases

Open letter by Linus Torvalds and Alan Cox to the European parliament:
http://www.effi.org/patentit/patents_torvalds_cox.html

Electronic Frontier Finland:
http://www.effi.org/julkaisut/tiedotteet/pressrelease-2003-09-22.html

 

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