Bonum Certa Men Certa

The Aftermath of 'Unitary' Patent

"The European Patent Office is a Corrupt, Malicious Organisation Which Should Not Exist"

--Richard Stallman



Estimated Point of Obsolescence



Summary: A roundup of coverage about loophole for software patents and trolls being created in the EU

Internet giants seemingly oppose software patents in The Valley, based on what Google and Facebook are doing as covered in technology news sites. But don't expect this to prevent misguided or malicious EU politicians such as Barnier (recently seen here). They repeatedly use "Silicon Valley" as a talking point in their propaganda for the Unitary Patent. The topic and those talking points can be found in a lot of lawyers' sites, which are spinning EU approval for Unitary Patent as good news, not a disaster like ACTA. Here is some coverage:





In the above reports too much attention is paid to cost of filing and languages while too little attention is paid to the real impact of patents on development. Here is better coverage:



Here is another timely reminder of patent scope going awry. Joe Mullin, a patents sceptic, wrote about the latest development. Unitary Patent passed [1, 2] and Pamela Jones wrote: "Here's one problem that leaps off the page. If there is a unitary patent, if I am a patent troll in a country that doesn't allow software patents, I file in a country that is less restrictive, and now it's EU-wide legit. No? What am I missing?"

She linked to Open Forum Europe, a lobby with backers like IBM, which said "Unitary Patent – the EU should take more time to get it right"

To quote further: "After decades of impasse it now appears that lawmakers are trying to rush through a poor compromise in the last minute that may make matters worse, not better, for innovators in Europe, especially for those in the technology industry."

Here is the official babble from the press room. They don't address the issues we raised. Many of those involved are lawyers, so we are hardly surprised real stakeholders get ignored.

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