Bonum Certa Men Certa

Europe Enters the Patents Cold War

Sienna, Italy



Summary: With the exception of Italy (and Spain, although it is being blackmailed), Europe is taking the road to spurious patents that harm developers while benefiting lawyers and monopolists

COMMON sense says that developers should write code, not patent applications. But in a world where law school graduates clamour for jobs that cannot be so simple, can it? Based on yet another report -- this time from patents sceptics -- European policy-makers continue to fall for the illusion that more patents must be indicative of more "innovation". To quote:



The European Union is failing to keep pace with key competitor nations and is in need of a radical new, greatly simplified, approach to research and innovation, the European Commission said on 1 February. And an element of what is needed is a European-wide patent.


Once again we find this excuse for a unitary system that can in due course endorse software patents, too. Fortunately, there is already a thorough rebuttal to this nonsense, going under the headline that says: "Europe Feels The Need To Catch Up To China And The US In The Self-Destructive Patent Race"

So, over in Europe, overreacting bureaucrats are about to make the same mistake. They've declared that the EU is "falling behind" in innovation (really, patents) and are urging a more streamlined patent system that would be European-wide. The idea, of course, is that with a EU-wide patent system, it becomes easier to get patents. Of course, that only helps innovation if patents actually lead to more innovation and, sadly, the evidence suggests otherwise.


EurActiv joined the propaganda and did mention Italy's smart decision to resist and thereby cripple a European-wide patent concept. To quote:

Italy found itself isolated in December when eleven countries signed a letter requesting the European Commission to move forward on the patent issue without waiting for other countries. Another dozen said it was time to move forward using enhanced cooperation, leaving the door open for other countries to join at a later stage.

"There will likely be a short exchange of views on the issue," said an EU source, "but only if Berlusconi brings it forward".

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi raised this issue in a letter sent on Friday (28 January) to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and Commission President José Manuel Barroso.

He asked for progress to be made on the patent issue but underlined that there should be an agreement "respecting the integrity of the internal market and involving all member states".


The patent lawyer Falk Metzler is no friend of the FFII and he is a good friend of software patents based on his blog posts. He does not like the way FFII helps derail the European-wide patent and his contempt for the group generated some slightly hostile remarks in a mailing list. To quote just part of it:

That's the moment in history when the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), which has become widely known for their emphatic resistance against the EU Software Patent Directive (COM (2002) 92) in 2002 to 2005, comes up with the idea that the EU Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) should be in charge of the coming EU patent rather than the more independent European Patent Office (EPO), since the FFII deeply suspects EPO "for granting of software patents without a prior legislative authorisation".


The FFII was founded by his fellow countryman who fought to keep software patents away from Europe. In the next post we'll show what happens in the US where no group like the FFII existed to stave off such destructive legal weapons.

Recent Techrights' Posts

The Next Talk of Richard Stallman (Father of GN/Linux and the GPL) Advertised in the Media 3 Days in Advance
He spoke in Italy earlier this year and also did some interviews
The Microsofter Who Kept Sending Threatening Post and E-mail to My Wife Has Been Joking He'd Work on Code for "Sexual Favours"
For one thing, for software professionals (like for landlords), this is outright illegal and you'd get arrested for it, and moreover it's no joking matter because there are many real victims of such sexual exploitation
We Seem to Have Abandoned Science and Replaced Sound Policy With Private Patent Shareholders and College Dropouts Like Bill Epsteingate
Because of what they did there are now many people out there who reject all vaccines
Many IBM Layoffs, Centred Around Expert Labs US in Atlanta (Offer of "Relocation" Where No Such Option Exists)
So Techrights was assessing comments/gossip online and it was right about the Thursday cull
 
Simpler is Better
Gemini Protocol turns 6 in exactly 4 weeks
Slopwatch: Brian Fagioli, Brittany Day, and Other Plagiarists Who Rip Off Real Writers and Target Themes Around "Linux"
Fagioli also prompted chatbots for some words diarrhoea
Growing Recognition Out There That Courts Must Abandon Microsoft or Have No Perception of Authority, Autonomy, Independence, Fairness, and More
Imagine making a complaint about Microsoft to an agency that uses Microsoft
Links 23/05/2025: Microsoft Openwashing at ZDNet, Signal Does It Wrong (DRM, Back Doors Still Intact)
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/05/2025: Clutter in Modern Interfaces and Dealing With DRM-Free Music
Links for the day
Links 23/05/2025: Tax Audits of Hong Kong's Independent as ‘Intimidation Tactics,’ Why "Regulating X Isn’t Censorship"
Links for the day
TecAdmin Took a Break From Linux to Push SPAM
This happened hours ago, and it seems to have been posted directly by the site's "Admin" (Rahul)
Links 23/05/2025: Violent Attacks on the Press, VMware Price Hikes, Vista 11 Considered Unsuitable for Any Confidentiality
Links for the day
Gemini Links 23/05/2025: Balkan Tourism, UK Polls, Reticulum and Meshtastic
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 22, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, May 22, 2025
Back to Basics, Folks, "AI" (Plagiarism) is Symptom of a Dying Industry Looking for Whatever Prey It Can Devour
lousy/sloppy imitations
Liam Proven's Thoughts on "AI" Being a Scam No Different From Religions, Alternative Medicine, and More
"Is there anywhere outside of retrocomputing that doesn't have AI in it?"
Slopwatch: Slopfarms That 'Hallucinate' (Yield Falsehoods) Cited as Credible Sources and Microsoft Media Gaslighting Everybody
Part of the problem is, Google News
More Media Coverage and Photos From Richard Stallman's Presentation in Liberec (Czech Republic)
Here are some photos
The Microsofter Who Kept Sending Threatening Post and E-mail to My Wife Has Been Spooking Women for at Least Two Decades
censorship was the ultimate goal
Links 22/05/2025: Openwashing, Dumping Microsoft's Entrapment (Microsoft GitHub), and New Climate Disasters
Links for the day
Richard Stallman's Next Public Talk is in Milan, Italy Next Week
Happy hacking
Gemini Links 22/05/2025: Crimson Pro Font and CGI in Bash
Links for the day
IBM Goes to India, Fires People in the United States (Under the Guise of "Relocation" or Similar), Accusation of Bribery in the Company
LLM slop sites (some are pure slopfarms) from India say the IBM layoffs result in hiring "AI" (the "I" stands for India)
Why We'll Continue Covering EPO Abuses (Other Patent Offices as Well, as the Need Arises) for Many Years to Come
We're basically becoming Russia
Links 22/05/2025: TikTok Laying Off Again, Microsoft-Backed Builder.ai Set for Bankruptcy, Scam Altman Uses 'Funny Money' to 'Buy' (Hire) Company
Links for the day
These Feet Are Made for Walking
Humans are apparently so very clever that they decided to form a "progressive" consensus: feet no more
The Evolution of Microsoft's War on GNU/Linux
13 sins
OFTC Has Just Culled About a Third of Its Online Users
It's not the first time they purge or force offline many people/bots
My New Desk Arrangement (and More Breaks From the Keyboard)
all in all yesterday I devoted 4-5 hours to redoing and shuffling stuff
Central Staff Committee of the EPO Opposes Abuses Against EPO Staff, Challenging SuccessFactors Stunts
Europe became institutionally colonised
Gemini Links 22/05/2025: "Conspirituality" and Visiting One's Old University
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, May 21, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, May 21, 2025
Bigots and Lunatics Who Attack Microsoft Critics, Projecting Their Own Bigotry by Accusing Others of Imaginary Things (Which They're Innocent Of)
"In psychology, projection refers to assigning your negative traits or unwanted emotions to others without being aware you’re doing it."
"The Appeals Committee [at the EPO] Unanimously Stated a Formal Flaw in the Consultation of the General Consultative Committee (GCC) on the Reform"
It's a truly horrifying situation
Microsoft Killed the Term "Open Source" (by Bribing/Taking Over OSI, 'Linux' Foundation Etc.) and Now It Needs to Kill the Brand Linux (Because Windows Just Won't Run!)
Why else would Microsoft falsely describe Windows as "Linux" and "Open Source"?
Slopwatch: Liars for Microsoft, Plagiarism, and IBM Red Hat Markets Slop as "AI"
Today was a bad day news-wise
Links 21/05/2025: Climate Problems and Ceasefires No Longer Foreseen
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/05/2025: "Shrimps of Doom" and "ASCII-graphs"
Links for the day
Links 21/05/2025: GitHub Becoming Slop, MElon as a Drug Addict Considered National Security Risk
Links for the day
Slopwatch: Slopfarms 'Think' Redis is "Linux" (RedisRaider)
Today we'll keep it short and to the point again
IBM Has Allegedly Just Sacked Mr. McKinsey (McK), Clay Cowan, Its Fourth CMO in a Few Years
To insiders he represented the company that's killing IBM or advising IBM on how to self-destruct
Gemini Links 21/05/2025: Trips, 4D Golf, and Writing Software
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, May 20, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, May 20, 2025