Bonum Certa Men Certa

FFII and End Software Patents (ESP) Respond to Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA) Regarding Software Patentability

Anti software patents
India too is fighting against software patents



Summary: Responses to a referral which was intended to help determine whether or not software algorithms should be patentable in Europe

THE output of the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA) was covered here 3 times last week [1, 2, 3], but we have found no formal statement from the FFII, until now (full press release appended at the bottom):

Brimelow Referral on software patents dismissed: 'time for the legislator to take over'



Munich, 13 May 2010 -- The highest appeal chamber of the European Patent Office, the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA), has decided on patents for computer programs. The questions on point of law from President Brimelow were decided to be "inadmissible" under Article 112(1)(b) EPC. It chided the President for bothering the board with her questions. For such requests Alison Brimelow was recommended to ask her legal staff.


The FSF-funded End Software Patents (ESP) initiative calls it a "good result":

An unexpected, good result: after more than a year and a half of review (referral G3/08), the EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal has declared that the four questions posed were all inadmissible. The patent office is thus does not have the power to decide for itself whether or not software should be patentable.


Here is IDG's coverage (not IDG in Europe) and the post which Groklaw chose as its reference analysis:

If you believe that no news is good news, then 3/08 is wonderful news because the 61-page decision found the referral inadmissible and, therefore, declined to reach the merits. It's an interesting (if non-committal) read, and some of the questions raised are fascinating. Consider the following: "Must a claimed feature cause a technical effect on a physical entity in the real world in order to contribute to the technical character of the claim?" Great question--but the EPO Enlarged Court of Appeal declined to consider this one and all of the others.


The decision in Europe is very important because it represents an attempt to expand software patents beyond the United States (and Japan, among perhaps a few more countries). It's an attempt to change the tide in the same way that the DMCA broke loose after heavy lobbying from Hollywood. Europe is a key checkpoint to them, but it's a tough nut to crack because Europe cannot be blackmailed, unlike poorer regions.

The following video from Taiwan (May 2005) shows Richard Stallman theorising that Microsoft is trying to pass software patents in other countries before litigiously attacking Linux in order not to reduce the chances of legalising software patents (Germany has just approved the FAT patent from Microsoft and it affects the EU-based TomTom).

[an error occurred while processing this directive]



Here is the audio version of this talk.



Skip to 1(hr):25(min) to hear Stallman talk about Microsoft and software patents. As mentioned earlier today, Stallman also notes that Microsoft is a criminal company that was convicted 3 times and should therefore not be supported by governments. All in all, this is a very good delivery without interruptions or awkward pauses. It is calm and well focused.




Brimelow Referral on software patents dismissed: "time for the legislator to take over"



Munich, 13 May 2010 -- The highest appeal chamber of the European Patent Office, the Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBoA), has decided on patents for computer programs. The questions on point of law from President Brimelow were decided to be "inadmissible" under Article 112(1)(b) EPC. It chided the President for bothering the board with her questions. For such requests Alison Brimelow was recommended to ask her legal staff.

The EBoA also looked into the substance but felt not competent to define a key term as "technical". The board prefers a legislator to decide patentability of computer programs: "…a presidential referral is not admissible merely because the European Parliament and Council have failed to adopt a directive on CII patenting …When judiciary-driven legal development meets its limits, it is time for the legislator to take over".

FFII welcomes the spirit of the decision. "The European Parliament should now ask for a new directive for harmonization. Five years ago the European Commission and leading members of the European Parliament suggested that", explains FFII president Benjamin Henrion.

"The referral was overshadowed by institutional politics", adds André Rebentisch, the FFII general secretary. "The Board had to reject it for formality reasons, as recommended by Prof. Joseph Straus. Still I found the initiative of Alison Brimelow very fruitful. She restarted a technical debate over patenting rules for computer programs. The amount, diversity and quality of the third party statements, together with the length of the final decision are telling. We ought to continue a broad and open exchange of views."



Links

Opinion of the Enlarged Board of Appeal and press release by the EPO:
http://www.epo.org/topics/news/2010/20100512.html

FFII Page about the Referral on the question of software patents (G03/08):
http://www.ffii.org/EPOReferral

Third party statements on G03/08 (Amicus Curiae Briefs):
http://www.epo.org/patents/appeals/eba-decisions/pending/briefs.html

Hartmut Pilch comments for the EUPAT WG:


http://eupat.ffii.org/10/05/eba/

Permanent link to this press release:
https://press.ffii.org/Press%20releases/Brimelow_Referral_dismissed

Contact

Benjamin Henrion
FFII Brussels
+32-484-56 61 09 (mobile)


bhenrion at ffii.org
(French/English)

About FFII

The FFII is a not-for-profit association registered in twenty European countries, dedicated to the development of information goods for the public benefit, based on copyright, free competition, open standards. More than 1000 members, 3,500 companies and 100,000 supporters have entrusted the FFII to act as their voice in public policy questions concerning exclusion rights (intellectual property) in data processing.



Recent Techrights' Posts

The "Luddite" Complex
Sometimes simplest is best and sometimes "modern" is designed not with the buyers' interest in mind
SCO's Darl McBride Dead at Age 64
There's hardly any information about it, except we know he reached bankruptcy and 3 years later he died at a relatively young age
[Meme] Python Knows Its Bosses
Microsoft strings attached
[Meme] Debt of About $20 Per Active User
Facebook isn't laying off tens of thousands for "efficiency" but for survival
 
Links 02/11/2024: Many Fakes in Social Control Media
Links for the day
GNU/Linux Usage Surveys: Up to 6.8% (With ChromeOS, Based on StatCounter) in Desktops/Laptops and Above 2% in Steam
Today StatCounter starts releasing graphs based on data for November
Gemini Links 02/11/2024: Petscop, Jokes, and RetroChallenge
Links for the day
Links 02/11/2024: Temu EU Probe and Shorts Trademark
Links for the day
The 'Turning-Free-Code-Proprietary Foundation' (Linux/Microsoft Foundation)
LF will basically become just as sinister as its corporate sponsors
Python Software Foundation is 'Cancel Culture' Rehomed
Python isn't grassroots and it doesn't really tolerate grassroots
DeVault "Closes Down His Mailing Lists Every Time There's a Scandal" and Also Censors Messages
Censorious code hosting platform
What Social Control Media Really Is
Social Control Media, in a nutshell, isn't just bad if its controller is some foreign or hostile nation
Taking Ethics Lectures From Drew
Projection tactics
Links 02/11/2024: Facebook Stock Falls (Soaring Debt), Apple’s Quarterly Profit Down
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/11/2024: Burnout, Emacs Bookmarks, and Smooth Migration
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, November 01, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, November 01, 2024
Facebook's Debt Has Soared to All-Time High of Nearly 50 Billion Dollars
But the corporate media pretends all is well (while mass layoffs continue and slop takes over the social control media)
Geminispace Makes It Past 4,200 Capsules on November 1st
At last!
Links 01/11/2024: Election Interferences by X/Twitter/Musk, Strava as Espionage Tool
Links for the day
The October 2024 Web Server Survey Shows a Further Collapse for Microsoft in the Servers Market
Microsoft experienced the next largest loss of 699,464 sites (-3.45%)
Gemini Links 01/11/2024: TLS Sucks, twytere.com Announced
Links for the day
Links 01/11/2024: Few Things Are Cheaper Than This Antenna and "Nothing Lasts Forever"
Links for the day
Technology: rights or responsibilities? - Part V
By Dr. Andy Farnell
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, October 31, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, October 31, 2024
R.T.O. is Another Name (or Acronym) for Voluntary Layoffs
Amazon is trying to get many workers to leave on their own
Microsoft's Acquisition of Activision (to Fake Revenue Growth by Buying Revenue) Was a Failure
Of course the mass layoffs at Microsoft aren't just a Microsoft thing
Stagnant, Shrinking Businesses and "IBM's Corporate Culture Since the Late 1980s... Over 35 Years."
Recently, IBM was using share price as a talking point, insisting the company was doing OK while tens of thousands were being laid off
Links 01/11/2024: World News, Political Catchup
Links for the day
[Meme] Probably the Worst Possible Time to Get Information From Social Control Media
Musk does not want to prevent disinformation from spreading and the same is true for Facebook and TikTok; they have their own interests
Update on Litigation Against the European Patent Office (EPO) at the ILO Administrative Tribunal (ILOAT)
Rewards and compensation for staff have long fallen, resulting in many experienced colleagues leaving and causing further declines in quality and compliance
Gemini Links 31/10/2024: NNCP, Declutter the Web, Cost of Community
Links for the day
Links 31/10/2024: Supermicro Plummets 33%, Block and Dropbox Mass Layoffs
Links for the day
Links 31/10/2024: Environmental Anxiety, Profound Changes in Hardware Market
Links for the day
Links 30/10/2024: TSMC Concerns and North Koreans in Ukraine War
Links for the day
Facebook is for Zombies
Social control media is for fools
Microsoft Now Has $235,290,000,000 in Liabilities, They Grow Over Time in Spite of Mass Layoffs (So Expect More Layoffs)
expect more mass layoffs
Links 31/10/2024: DST Woes, War Updates, Amazon RTO Backlash
Links for the day
Gemini Links 31/10/2024: Attention Economy and Gemlogs
Links for the day
Happy Halloween
October is nearly over
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 30, 2024
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 30, 2024
For the Record: Linux is Controlled by the United States of America
"This is going to make many question the openness and inclusivity of the work done by Linux Foundation"
Microsoft: XBox Hardware Revenues Down About 30% (Ignore the Buzzwords and Activision Activity Dressed Up as "XBox")
For context, in a previous quarter XBox hardware sales were down by about 50%
Cooking the Books With "Cloud" And "AI" Was Not Enough to Fool Microsoft Investors
"Microsoft Shares Drop on Disappointing Azure Growth Forecast"