Bruce Perens wrote: > Eben Moglen wrote: > >Patent infringement lawsuits have not been brought against free software > > > > > I feel that one of the most important reasons for this is strategic in > nature. Some of the large software patent holding companies do not want > to create bad news about software patenting before they have the > legislation supporting them that they want in all industrially-important > venues.
Current European caselaw already supports the EPO's view that software _is_ patentable. Keep in mind that failed directive had as its stated purpose to write down the current state of affairs, not to create patentability where there was none. Right now software patents *are* being licensed and *are* being enforced in Europe. It's just that they are only being licensed to people with expensive products in large numbers, and that does not create a lot of attention in the press. Take a look at the non-US patents on the MPEG-2 essential patent list, and then ask yourself why all these European licensees would be purchasing MPEG-2 licenses if software patents are illegal in Europe. http://www.mpegla.com/ Arnoud -- Arnoud Engelfriet, Dutch patent attorney - Speaking only for myself Patents, copyright and IPR explained for techies: http://www.iusmentis.com/
