12.04.10

Gemini version available ♊︎

Large US Corporations Push for Software Patents Through South Korean FTA

Posted in America, Asia, Europe, GNU/Linux, Google, Intellectual Monopoly, Law, Microsoft, Patents at 10:54 am by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Signs in Korean

Summary: A ‘free’ trade agreement (FTA) is being used to blackmail Korea into accepting the unacceptable, namely software patents

IT was only recently that the president of the FFII spotted a subscribers-only article and wrote:

US coalition asks for software patents in South Korea FTA, cites China and India TRIPS interpretation against swpats http://ur1.ca/2htvk

Thankfully we have some text from the article and with fair use doctrine we are able to give a flavour of it. “The article is copyrighted,” wrote an anonymous reader to us, “but maybe you could cite relevant parts of it,” said this reader, who had access to the text. They are “[p]ushing software patents through free trade agreements,” wrote a person who interpreted this article and here is the overall analysis:

According to the article below, a business coalition paper on IP issues is asking USTR to use TPP to:

-”replicate the IPR provisions of the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement, especially when it comes to patents and copyrights.

-go “beyond the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). For instance, it states that the TPP should outlaw camcording in theaters, despite the fact that the ACTA made it optional for countries to have criminal penalties for camcording.

-reject the “May 2007 compromise on patent provisions struck between the Bush administration and House Democrats, which weakened patent protections in FTAs that the U.S. had negotiated with developing countries.”

-include pharmaceutical chapter targeting the reimbursement policies of the Pharmaceutical Management Agency of New Zealand (PHARMAC)

-”demand that all TPP countries fully implement the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), something that New Zealand and Vietnam have not yet done”

To quote fragments from article “Inside U.S. Trade” (12/03/2010):

A confidential draft paper by a business coalition to advise the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on the intellectual property negotiations in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks shows that U.S. companies are fighting back against European Union efforts to protect geographical indications (GIs) in other countries.

Here come patents:

In provisions other than GIs, the paper largely urges the U.S. to replicate the IPR provisions of the U.S.-Korea free trade agreement, especially when it comes to patents and copyrights.

More on patents:

The Korea FTA was not affected by the IPR provisions of the May 2007 compromise, meaning that it contains what U.S. industry groups consider to be the highest level of protection to date. The paper does not delve into any specifics on patent linkage, data exclusivity and patent term extensions, which are the areas covered by the 2007 compromise.

Look who’s behind it:

This seemingly cautious approach by the business coalition differs from that of the Emergency Committee for American Trade (ECAT) and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), both coalition members,
which have publicly called on USTR not to repeat the 2007 compromise on IPR in the TPP negotiations.

The coalition paper was written by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), sources said.

Here come software patents:

The paper asks USTR to go beyond the Korea FTA in terms of computer implemented inventions, which are essentially patents on software.

This is how Microsoft extorts Samsung and LG (Korean companies), pulling money out of them for the use of Android.

Here’s TRIPS:

While the Korea FTA requires parties to uphold the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the problem with TRIPS is that many signatories, including China and India,
interpret it to mean that they do not have to provide patent protection for computer implemented inventions, according to the coalition paper.

More on TRIPS in [1, 2, 3, 4, 5] and here’s the next bunch of paragraphs:

“Thus, the language of the TPP agreement needs to be strengthened to specifically require providing patent protection for computer implemented inventions,” the paper argues.

The issue of computer implemented inventions touches on a larger debate on the scope of patent protection, one source said.

Patents clearly apply for new physical inventions or even a new process for performing a task. However, patents are generally not granted for formulas or algorithms, because that would be patenting knowledge itself, and would impede scientific progress, this source explained.

Outrageous. Recall who’s behind this. It’s not Koreans. On it goes, elucidating the US role in it:

While the U.S. currently grants software patents, some argue that these patents are essentially just the algorithm or formula itself, although written in computer code. If these software patents were all enforced, it could have the perverse effect of crippling the ability of different companies to innovate by devising new software, critics argue.

While companies currently amass these software patents, they do so largely for defensive reasons. Under this strategy, if a first company holding many software patents is challenged by another for infringement, it can look to try to find a case when that challenging company is also infringing a patent held by the first company, this source said.

This is untrue. Microsoft uses software patents offensively, e.g. against Linux and Android. They are just making up excuses for legalising software patents (calling them “defensive”, as if there is something about software which makes the already-granted patents inherently different).

What this amounts to is a sort of extortion and it helps show the US role in writing Korea’s law. Here is evidence of the continued attempts to impose US-style copyrights (the ‘Mickey Mouse’ law) on the whole world:

The draft also urges USTR to demand that all TPP countries fully implement the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Copyright Treaty and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), something that New Zealand and Vietnam have not yet done, another source pointed out.

Wikileaks has just unearthed another scandal. It’s just that, as Wikileaks helps show, Spain’s proposed copyright law was written by the United States. We wrote about it this morning while mentioning Amazon as one of the companies which set/write the laws in other countries like Canada (still wrestling against crazy copyright deform). Wikileaks has some ACTA-related leaks (cables) coming, so it is clear why US diplomats fight tooth and nail to take the site and its mirrors down (see the latest news below). Even France is now trying to ban the site, possibly because it turns out that Hadopi came from the United States. Sarko is being shown for the traitor he has been.

Some other posts about Korea:

Latest Wikileaks news:

  • France moves to ban WikiLeaks from using French servers

    Industry Minister Eric Besson wrote a letter to business and technology leaders on Friday calling for ways to ban WikiLeaks from using servers in France, local media reported.

  • WikiLeaks : la loi Hadopi intéresse au plus haut point Washington
  • Wikileaks.org blocked, but mirror sites proliferating: here’s a partial index of indexes

    In response to the “killing” of Wikileaks.org by the US, countless mirror sites are springing up all over the world. It’s impossible to authoritatively catalog them all—too many mirrors, and too fluid of a situation. But here are some active indexes, which appear to be dynamically updating as new mirrors pop up.

    • wikileaks.ch
    • wikileaks.de
    • wikileaks.fi
    • wikileaks.nl
    • Wikileaks.info

  • WikiLeaks’ Assange to fight any extradition: lawyer

    WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will fight any bid to extradite him to Sweden over sexual misconduct allegations, and suspects foreign powers are influencing the authorities, his Swedish lawyer said on Friday.

  • NSW Supreme Court solicitor: Letter to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard

    Dear Prime Minister
    From the Sydney Morning Herald I note you made a comment of “illegal” on the matter of Mr Assange in relation to the ongoing leaks of US diplomatic cables.

    Previously your colleague and Attorney General the Honourable McClelland announced an investigation of possible criminality by Mr Assange.

    As a lawyer and citizen I find this most disturbing, particularly so when a brief perusal of the Commonwealth Criminal Code shows that liability arises under the Espionage provisions, for example, only when it is the Commonwealth’s “secrets” that are disclosed and that there must be intent to damage the Commonwealth.

  • No job if you link to WikiLeaks, warns Columbia

    From The Arabist comes yet another warning of the career dangers of a fondness for WikiLeaks in the form of an email sent to students of their School of International and Public Affairs…

  • Ron Paul: ‘What we need is more WikiLeaks’

    Popular Texas Republican Congressman Ron Paul is no stranger to breaking with his party, but in a recent television appearance the libertarian-leaning Rep. went even further than any member of Congress in defending whistleblower website WikiLeaks.

  • Recap: WikiLeaks faces more heat in the wake of cablegate

    It’s been a long week for the whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks. Problems started to mount after Amazon and EveryDNS forced them to shuffle their hosting. While this was happening, they also had to face political posturing and arrest warrants. The truth can be a dangerous and wonderful thing.

Share in other sites/networks: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Reddit
  • email

Decor ᶃ Gemini Space

Below is a Web proxy. We recommend getting a Gemini client/browser.

Black/white/grey bullet button This post is also available in Gemini over at this address (requires a Gemini client/browser to open).

Decor ✐ Cross-references

Black/white/grey bullet button Pages that cross-reference this one, if any exist, are listed below or will be listed below over time.

Decor ▢ Respond and Discuss

Black/white/grey bullet button If you liked this post, consider subscribing to the RSS feed or join us now at the IRC channels.

A Single Comment

  1. NotZed said,

    December 4, 2010 at 7:31 pm

    Gravatar

    That comment from the PM referenced in the Kemp letter was completely outrageous. It simply boils down to “we don’t like it so it must be illegal” when obviously this is simply not the case. And then to hypocritically look the other way at clearly illegal activity just because the perps were ‘good mates’ (who couldn’t give a shit about u anyway) is just the icing on the cake.

DecorWhat Else is New


  1. Links 30/05/2023: Orc 0.4.34 and Another Rust Crisis

    Links for the day



  2. Links 30/05/2023: Nitrux 2.8.1 and HypoPG 1.4.0

    Links for the day



  3. Gemini Links 30/05/2023: Bubble Version 3.0

    Links for the day



  4. Links 30/05/2023: LibreOffice 7.6 in Review and More Digital Restrictions (DRM) From HP

    Links for the day



  5. Gemini Links 30/05/2023: Curl Still Missing the Point?

    Links for the day



  6. IRC Proceedings: Monday, May 29, 2023

    IRC logs for Monday, May 29, 2023



  7. MS (Mark Shuttleworth) as a Microsoft Salesperson

    Canonical isn’t working for GNU/Linux or for Ubuntu; it’s working for “business partners” (WSL was all along about promoting Windows)



  8. First Speaker in Event for GNU at 40 Called for Resignation/Removal of GNU's Founder

    It’s good that the FSF prepares an event to celebrate GNU’s 40th anniversary, but readers told us that the speakers list is unsavoury, especially the first one (a key participant in the relentless campaign of defamation against the person who started both GNU and the FSF; the "FSFE" isn't even permitted to use that name)



  9. When Jokes Became 'Rude' (or Disingenuously Misinterpreted by the 'Cancel Mob')

    A new and more detailed explanation of what the wordplay around "pleasure card" actually meant



  10. Site Updates and Plans Ahead

    A quick look at or a roundup of what we've been up to, what we plan to publish in the future, what topics we shall focus on very soon, and progress moving to Alpine Linux



  11. Links 29/05/2023: Snap and PipeWire Plans as Vendor Lock-in

    Links for the day



  12. Gemini Links 29/05/2023: GNU/Linux Pains and More

    Links for the day



  13. Links 29/05/2023: Election in Fedora, Unifont 15.0.04

    Links for the day



  14. Gemini Links 29/05/2023: Rosy Crow 1.1.1 and Smolver 1.2.1 Released

    Links for the day



  15. IRC Proceedings: Sunday, May 28, 2023

    IRC logs for Sunday, May 28, 2023



  16. Daniel Stenberg Knows Almost Nothing About Gemini and He's Likely Just Protecting His Turf (HTTP/S)

    The man behind Curl, Daniel Stenberg, criticises Gemini; but it's not clear if he even bothered trying it (except very briefly) or just read some inaccurate, one-sided blurbs about it



  17. Links 29/05/2023: Videos Catchup and Gemini FUD

    Links for the day



  18. Links 28/05/2023: Linux 6.4 RC4 and MX Linux 23 Beta

    Links for the day



  19. Gemini Links 28/05/2023: Itanium Day, GNUnet DHT, and More

    Links for the day



  20. Links 28/05/2023: eGates System Collapses, More High TCO Stories (Microsoft Windows)

    Links for the day



  21. IRC Proceedings: Saturday, May 27, 2023

    IRC logs for Saturday, May 27, 2023



  22. No More Twitter, Mastodon, and Diaspora for Tux Machines (Goodbye to Social Control Media)

    People would benefit from mass abandonment of such pseudo-social pseudo-media.



  23. Links 28/05/2023: New Wine and More

    Links for the day



  24. Links 27/05/2023: Plans Made for GNU's 40th Anniversary

    Links for the day



  25. Social Control Media Needs to be Purged and We Need to Convince Others to Quit It Too (to Protect Ourselves as Individuals and as a Society)

    With the Tux Machines anniversary (19 years) just days away we seriously consider abandoning all social control media accounts of that site, including Mastodon and Diaspora; social control networks do far more harm than good and they’ve gotten a lot worse over time



  26. Anonymously Travelling: Still Feasible?

    The short story is that in the UK it's still possible to travel anonymously by bus, tram, and train (even with shades, hat and mask/s on), but how long for? Or how much longer have we got before this too gets banned under the false guise of "protecting us" (or "smart"/"modern")?



  27. With EUIPO in Focus, and Even an EU Kangaroo Tribunal, EPO Corruption (and Cross-Pollination With This EU Agency) Becomes a Major Liability/Risk to the EU

    With the UPC days away (an illegal and unconstitutional kangaroo court system, tied to the European Union in spite of critical deficiencies) it’s curious to see EPO scandals of corruption spilling over to the European Union already



  28. European Patent Office (EPO) Management Not Supported by the EPO's Applicants, So Why Is It Still There?

    This third translation in the batch is an article similar to the prior one, but the text is a bit different (“Patente ohne Wert”)



  29. EPO Applicants Complain That Patent Quality Sank and EPO Management Isn't Listening (Nor Caring)

    SUEPO has just released 3 translations of new articles in German (here is the first of the batch); the following is the second of the three (“Kritik am Europäischen Patentamt – Patente ohne Wert?”)



  30. German Media About Industry Patent Quality Charter (IPQC) and the European Patent Office (EPO)

    SUEPO has just released 3 translations of new articles in German; this is the first of the three (“Industrie kritisiert Europäisches Patentamt”)


RSS 64x64RSS Feed: subscribe to the RSS feed for regular updates

Home iconSite Wiki: You can improve this site by helping the extension of the site's content

Home iconSite Home: Background about the site and some key features in the front page

Chat iconIRC Channel: Come and chat with us in real time

Recent Posts