NOT only the USPTO has been granting software patents. In Europe, in spite of the famous directive, the EPO continues granting software patents. Insiders keep telling us so, emphasising that pressure from management compels them to do it. "EPO continues to grant software patents," Benjamin Henrion noted the other day, "the last decision is about "calculating a threshold value in a computer" (the corresponding article is not in English, except the summary).

"Only the poor, who cannot afford legal defense, will suffer in such a hostile landscape."As we last mentioned on Saturday in relation to patent scope, the Battistelli-led attacks on the Boards of Appeal -- clearly a 'poisonous priority' of his -- enable this to carry on. It's happening not just in the domain of software, as this recently-cited article serves to remind us. What good will a patent office be if it grants a patent on almost everything and courts keep defying its examiners' judgments? Only the poor, who cannot afford legal defense, will suffer in such a hostile landscape. It is particularly damaging to SMEs which dominate as employers across Europe. ⬆

"They [EPO examiners] claim that the organisation is decentralising and focusing on granting as many patents as possible to gain financially from fees generated." —Expatica, European Patent Office staff on strike