Difference between revisions of "EU software patents directive"
(* FFII - the main campaign against software patents, to whom Europe owes a lot of thanks) |
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* [http://eupat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/prop/ February 2002 anti-swpat amendments suggestions] | * [http://eupat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/prop/ February 2002 anti-swpat amendments suggestions] | ||
+ | * [http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/europarl0309/amends05/komprom0506.en.pdf June 2005 anti-swpat amendments suggestions] | ||
==List of letters written to MEPs== | ==List of letters written to MEPs== | ||
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* http://www.timj.co.uk/digiculture/patents/timeline.php | * http://www.timj.co.uk/digiculture/patents/timeline.php | ||
− | == | + | ==Who was involved== |
− | |||
− | |||
− | |||
===Organisations active ''against'' software patents=== | ===Organisations active ''against'' software patents=== | ||
− | * [[FFII]] - the main campaign against software patents | + | * [[FFII]] - the main campaign against software patents, to whom Europe owes a lot of thanks |
* [[FSFE]] | * [[FSFE]] | ||
* [[Red Hat]] | * [[Red Hat]] | ||
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* [[SAP]] | * [[SAP]] | ||
* [[Philips]] | * [[Philips]] | ||
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+ | ==Related pages on {{SITENAME}}== | ||
+ | * [[EU 2005 proposed amendments]] - by the coalition against software patents | ||
+ | * [[Consultation Paper on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions]], 2000 | ||
==External links== | ==External links== |
Revision as of 02:37, 8 January 2010
The EU software patents directive was a proposal by the European Commission to allow the patenting of software ideas in the European Union. The proposal was the subject of intense public debate and lobbying and was eventually rejected by the European Parliament in 2005 by a massive majority.
Contents
The proposal
The European Patent Office (EPO) had already been granting software patents, despite "programs for computers" being excluded from patentability in the European Patent Convention. The European Commission's proposed legislation would have replaced the European Patent Convention with a directive which copied EPO practice. The European Commission and pro-software-patent lobby groups claimed that this was simple "harmonisation".
Timeline
- The European Commission published a proposal to introduce legislation which would clearly allow software ideas to be patentable
- September 2003: EU Parliament Votes for Real Limits on Patentability
- 2004: Council of Ministers discards the European Parliament's amendments
- June 2005: The European Parliament rejects the directive outright
Amendments
List of letters written to MEPs
(This list will be very long when completed, so will probably be split off into its own page.)
Who was involved
Organisations active against software patents
- FFII - the main campaign against software patents, to whom Europe owes a lot of thanks
- FSFE
- Red Hat
- Sun Microsystems
- CEA-PME
- UEAPME
Organisations active for software patents
Related pages on ESP Wiki
- EU 2005 proposed amendments - by the coalition against software patents
- Consultation Paper on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions, 2000