Bonum Certa Men Certa

New Zealand and Europe Should Both Actively Fight Against Software Patents

Kiwi



Summary: The lobby for software patents is very much alive in New Zealand and Europe

WHEN it comes to software patents, the situation in Europe is similar to the problems encountered in New Zealand ("embedded" trick which is back to the headlines), caused in part by lobby/front group NZICT. It lobbies for the interests which are opposite to New Zealand's by trying to encourage acceptance of software monopolies, mostly those from the United States. This lobby group is preparing a webinar, sponsored by the likes of Microsoft and IBM (which sponsor NZICT). To quote:



NZICT is gearing up to host a free webinar on February 15th over the revision of software patents and IPONZ’s guidelines.

In March last year, the Commerce Committee recommended that computer programs should not be a patentable invention.


Citizens of New Zealand ought to challenge these events whose purpose is to stage a tilted debate in hope of subverting the country's patent law, primarily by influencing IPONZ (Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand). They should learn from the trouble in Europe. "EU study advocates criminalisation of patent infringements," writes the FFII today, "[b]ut the EU study fails to prove IP criminal measures are essential" (the companies want a deterrent as such).

The FFII adds: "Would we like to see Steve Jobs behind bars? Or Doctors Without Borders?" Watch this summary about the EU plot as of late:

A study commissioned by the European Commission advocates the abolition of the national prosecutor’s discretion whether to prosecute and how to charge the defendant. It also argues in favor of a European criminal court and for the criminalisation of patent infringements. This is the study that paves the way, or should have paved the way, for EU intellectual property criminal measures. We observe that the study fails to prove EU criminal measures aimed at ensuring the enforcement of intellectual property rights are needed. Incidentally, this also indicates that the EU is not competent to ratify the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement’s criminal measures. Futhermore, criminalisation of patent infringements is a very bad idea. In the software sector, there are so many patents, infringement is often unavoidable. It may also endanger access to life saving generic medicine.


Glyn Moody calls it the "criminalisation of patent infringements," which he in turn labels "insane".

A patent attorney from Europe reveals more odd behaviour from the EPO. It's in his blog post whose pointers appear to have been broken. Well, maybe the EPO had a change of heart, who knows?

Today, the European Patent Office (EPO) has made available (@EPOorg on Twitter) a second edition of An overview of the national patent litigation systems in Europe available for download on-line. The text provides an overview of the national patent litigation systems across the European Patent Organisation's 38 Contracting States and presents an at-a-glance description of the different national revocation, nullity and infringement procedures currently in place. The competent courts dealing with these matters at first instance and appeal are also depicted.


Another European lawyer, Carlo Piana, says one should "[r]ead (pdf) http://ur1.ca/35e4f if you still think that #swpats [software patents] promote innovation."

With news that WebSafety "today announced that it now supports two new Android tablets for the company's patent-pending software application," it has become rather clear that the United States chooses to put software patents even in Linux-powered platforms. This leads to incompatibilities of all sorts and JDA reports "records in Q4", reached in part using "trial against Oracle over software patents". From the news:

JDA ended the quarter and the year with $171.6 million in cash, which it is clearly going to need more of if this ruling in the Texas courts regarding Dillard's sticks. JDA boosted its reserve for this judgment from $5 million to $19 million, reflecting what it now thinks the likely settlement to be based on preliminary mediation talks with the store chain. The trial against Oracle over software patents starts in March. JDA expects both cases to burn about $10 million in 2011.


Welcome to Texas, where patent trolls roam. In relation to the i4i case, Red Hat sent filings in support of abolishing such American patents and here comes another statement from the company:

Red Hat, Inc., a provider of open source solutions, continued its efforts to improve the U.S. patent system and to challenge poor quality software patents.

Red Hat joined a group of companies in an amicus brief to the Supreme Court which explained that the burden of proof applied to invalidate patents impedes innovation and should be changed.


Software patents threaten Red Hat's business, which is mostly based in the United States where software patent foster a large community of patent trolls. Europe and New Zealand should avoid descending upon the same chasm.

Recent Techrights' Posts

The LLM Bubble is About to Implode, Gimmicks and Financial Shell Games Cannot Prevent That, Only Delay It
To inflate the bubble MElon is now doing the classic trick of buying from oneself for a fictional value
 
Links 30/03/2025: Security Breaches, Crackdowns on Dissent/Rival Politicians
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/03/2025: London Soundtrack Festival, Superbloom, gmiCAPTCHA
Links for the day
Phasing Out Vista 10 in Nations Where ~90% of Windows Users Still Rely on It
Recipe for another Microsoft disaster
The Cost of Pursuing the Much-Needed Reform/Shield Against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs)
“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.”
Links 30/03/2025: Contagious Ideas, Signal Leak, and Squashing Lousy Patents
Links for the day
Links 30/03/2025: "Quantum Randomness" and "F-1 Visa Revoked" in US
Links for the day
Gemini Links 30/03/2025: US as a Threat, Returning to the WWW
Links for the day
Links 30/03/2025: Judge Blocks Dismantling Of VOA, Turkey Arrested Many Journalists
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, March 29, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, March 29, 2025
Judges Would Never Rule for Men Who Strangle Women or Against Women Who Merely Wrote Articles About Abuse They Had Received From Men
We don't intend to do "trial by media", so we won't be disclosing claims and defences until it's over
Windows is an Unnatural Disaster, It is Also Avoidable
there's a wide window of opportunity opening
Gemini Links 29/03/2025: Less YouTube and More Station
Links for the day
In Some Countries, Such as Thailand, Firefox is Already Measured at Less Than 2% (One Day Firefox Will Get Blocked, Not Only Lack Support)
Web consolidation around Chrom-isms will doom the Web as we know it
Killing the News With Spam and Slop Benefits Those Whose Desire is an Uninformed Population
adoption of Free software depends indirectly on political activities/activism
Links 29/03/2025: Trademarks Battles, Fires Destroy More Than 3,000 South Korean Homes
Links for the day
Open Source Initiative (OSI) Privacy Fiasco in Detail: An Introduction
Perhaps tomorrow or perhaps next week we'll share more information about what happened and what was reported to the California Privacy Protection Agency
Links 29/03/2025: More Crackdowns on Science, "Hey Hi" Slopping is Flopping
Links for the day
IBM's BS (Bait, Switch) Regarding Ways to Stay Onboard
PIPs, RTOs, and forced relocations are just an illusion of choice (or ability to recover)
Costa Rica Almost Bankrupt Because of Microsoft
the incidents in Costa Rica are Windows incidents
Gemini Links 29/03/2025: Art of Looking, Wireguard, EMacs
Links for the day
Links 29/03/2025: Attacks on Social Security and War Updates
Links for the day
Banned evidence: Ars Technica forums censored email predicting DebConf23 death, Abraham Raji & Debian cover-up
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, March 28, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, March 28, 2025
Intimidation, Threats, and Bullying Not Tolerated by Techrights
When it comes to our reporting, safety always comes first
A World Without Rules
We're long insisted on better laws and actual enforcement of them (applicable to all, not selectively applied)
statCounter Sees Microsoft Windows Falling to New, Unprecedented Lows in Palau
Taking Android into account, Windows is now down to an all-time low of 14%
Google News Lost the Fight to LLM Slop (While Google Itself Sells Slop, Nowadays Under the Name "Gemini")
Many people say that "Google is getting worse"; that's almost an understatement
Links 28/03/2025: AirAsia Trouble Again, UMich Culls All DEI Programs
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/03/2025: Alexa is for Gullible People, Rant About Feature Overload
Links for the day
The SLAPPs From the Microsoft Strangler (and Sidekick) No Better Than Patent Trolling
one must never settle with trolls
Something to Celebrate in Gemini Protocol
More capsules and users join in
Links 28/03/2025: Last Reminder "to Delete Your 23andMe Data", "UK's First Permanent Facial Recognition Cameras Installed"
Links for the day
Microsoft Canonical Continues Its FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) Campaign, Reveals Google Too Sponsored It
They're paid-for lies from a Chinese company that takes GAFAM money to write puff pieces about them
Android Rises Above 76% in Mozambique, Leaving Windows in the Dust
Windows may soon be measured as smaller than Apple's iOS
IBM, Red Hat and Microsoft Probably Also Manipulate Metrics (It Helps Con the Shareholders)
Wall Street's credibility will depend on enforcement of "checks and balances"
Slopwatch: trendhunter.com and Other Pure Junk From "Google News"
The need to vet sources is hardly new; anyone can spew out anything, anywhere. There's a need for vetting.
Gemini Links 28/03/2025: Rewatching The X-Files, Slop Concerns, and NOSTR Censorship
Links for the day
Links 28/03/2025: Australia at Risk, EPO Grants Illegal Patents With Illegal Effect
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, March 27, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, March 27, 2025