On Mon, 2010-09-06 at 15:37 -0700, [email protected] wrote: > Where did this claim that Europe doesn't have software patents come > from? Earlier this year a German patent attorney instructed our > office on the ins and outs of American vs European patent law. Google > it, there are European software patents.
The EU Patent Office (EUPO) has certainly granted some software patents. As far as I am aware there is no EU case law determining what is or is not patentable. EUPO has been pushed by "big money" into granting all sorts of patents. The UK Patent Office (UKPO) on the other hand -- at least last time I checked which was a few months back -- still views software as not-patentable. As I understand it the UKPO currently believes that UK case law currently puts software in with mathematics and algorithms. UKPO was being pushed to harmonize with EUPO (remember the software patents fiasco in the EU parliament, Council of Ministers, etc.), but was requiring explicit statute or instruction from ministers before changing their position. Given the vested interest of "big money" I have no doubt at some point irresistible pressure will be brought to bear. As for the rest of Europe, I have no idea . . . NB I am not a lawyer. -- Russel. ============================================================================= Dr Russel Winder t: +44 20 7585 2200 voip: sip:[email protected] 41 Buckmaster Road m: +44 7770 465 077 xmpp: [email protected] London SW11 1EN, UK w: www.russel.org.uk skype: russel_winder
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