IN OUR many past writings about software patents in Europe we named specific politicians whose role seemed to be the promotion of foreign interests for foreign monopolists. Some years ago it was Charlie McCreevy and these days it seems like Barnier carries the baton of shame. We wrote about him here, here, here, here, and various other places. Recently, as described here, even French groups started to expose Barnier (a Frenchman) for his insidious agenda which he masks as "union" "harmony", "unitary", and several other euphemisms in this whole tiresome shuffle-spiel. Don't believe them for a second. They are politicians, and they are pushing an agenda using whatever lies and wording gets the job done for their clients. In this case, the job can also usher software patents into Europe and -- in turn -- the rest of the world (which mostly must comply with the West due to old-fashioned sanction games).

"To have software patent trolls in the UK would be the rare exception."We have made local copies of these documents for future reference (document 1 [PDF] and document 2 [PDF]). This is not the first time that Spain and Italy take the lead on this subject (see the wiki archive), but this time they make it more formal.

Meanwhile, here in the UK, one of the Peer to Patent people (whom we do not fully agree with following their arrival at a country without software patents [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]) promises that "[n]ext week, I will discuss the exclusion for computer programs and methods of playing a game, doing business or performing mental acts." Well, in the UK it was hardly ever a subject of discussion until Symbian (Nokia) did its messy thing, as we covered several years ago. The UK does not really need a debate on the legality of software patents because these patents are, in principle, still outside the remit of the law. Even if they accidentally get granted, this does not mean they will stand in the courtroom. Caselaw basis defends software developers for the most part. To have software patent trolls in the UK would be the rare exception. It provides an incentive for people to develop in the UK and no incentives for patent parasites like trolls and hoarders to be based in the UK. When British developers get hit by a software patent lawsuit (which sometimes happens), it usually comes from a US-based patent troll, likely based in Texas. ⬆