IT IS difficult to take one's eyes off Microsoft because the company is always up to no good. One of Microsoft's lobbying groups (the main patent lobbyist in Europe, ACT) is being groomed in this Windows-based site which pushes Zuck's views as news and pushes his agenda a lot, perhaps still not realising that it's an imposter for very large businesses (which pay him), pretending to represent small ones. Other Microsoft lobbyists exist, but this one has been at it for over a decade (other kept their mask through plausible denial and hacks around disclosure rules) and yet they do not ban him:
The decision was welcomed by industry representatives. Jonathan Zuck, the president of the Association for Competitive Technology, said: “A strong intellectual property protection is essential if the European Union wants to remain competitive and achieve even greater innovation.
“A fragmented and over-complicated patent system does not have a place in today's market.”
Europe desperately needs a single patent to boost litigation, validate software patents and favor the growth of trolls
Philips, Microsoft and DSM have come together to help fund a sustained campaign to promote the benefits of intellectual property to the global economy. The three have established a group called Ideas Matter; and according to a document seen by IAM, the idea behind it is "aimed at a need that most intellectual property based sectors have felt for a long time: expanding awareness of the positive value of intellectual property and improving the reputation of IP, in the face of widespread misunderstanding and criticism among opinion leaders, the press and the public."
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While Philips, Microsoft and DSM are the currently providing the funds, they are keen to recruit as many organisations as possible to take part.
EPO did not liked the unitary-patent.eu logo, asked for its removal
The extraordinary Competitiveness Council, meeting in Luxembourg on 27 June, put together the broad outlines of the future EU unitary patent. The 27 ministers agreed a general approach on the two draft regulations submitted by the European Commission implementing enhanced cooperation in this area by 25 member states (Italy and Spain are not participating given their opposition to the translation rules). The proposals concern: 1. the characteristics of and arrangements for issuing the future patent that confers identical protection in the participating member states; and 2. translation provisions.
The Hungarian EU Presidency was applauded for this compromise, which satisfies all the participating states and thus closes the first chapter of the legislative procedure. “The objective of common protection in the participating states is now achievable,” commented Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier. He hopes, together with the European Parliament, to consolidate this achievement so that the EU patent will become a reality within two years.
[PDF], the FFII's president quotes:
No further substantive patent law at the EU level should be created
Baroness Wilcox, the UK’s intellectual property minister, said: “The creation of a single European patent and patent court is crucial for UK industry.
“We support a European patent system which gives real benefits for business, consumers and the economy. It is vital to offer businesses the same access to patent protection in their home market of Europe, as competitors in the US, China and Japan enjoy in theirs.”
“A unitary patent and court system will save businesses time and money whether they are patent holders or those seeking to challenge patents. The savings to UK business are likely to be around €£20 million per year in translations costs alone.”