[Gllug] Whitehall denies backing US-style software patents

[Sharon Kimble]

European directive 'will not have an adverse impact on the software market'
Robert Jaques, vnunet.com 15 Dec 2004
 
The UK government yesterday flatly denied that it has backed controversial 
plans to impose a US-style patent system on software developers.

However, seemingly at odds with the denial, Minister for Science and 
Innovation Lord Sainsbury outlined the government's "firm commitment to a 
patent system which fosters and supports innovation in all areas of 
technology, including inventions which rely on software".

He insisted that the proposed European directive on the patentability of 
computer-implemented inventions, which has attracted widespread and bitter 
criticism from leading software developers including Linux creator Linus 
Torvalds, will not have an adverse impact on the software market.

According to Whitehall, the patent initiative will particularly help in 
relation to open source software by helping to support a strong and vibrant 
technology-based industry.

The many influential critics of the proposed directive, who have been engaged 
in a high-profile campaign against the government and MPs over the past five 
years, were invited yesterday to discuss their concerns at a meeting with 
Lord Sainsbury and Patent Office officials.

Lord Sainsbury said at the meeting: "It is vital for Europe to have a climate 
which supports the software industry, including the valuable role that open 
source has to play.

"Patents provide the confidence to invest in R&D for technological industries, 
and the current draft directive will ensure that Europe continues to strike 
the right balance and provides clarity as to what can and cannot be patented 
with regard to computer-implemented inventions. It does not change anything, 
but maintains the status quo.

"Changes in patent practise in the US in the past five years have caused 
concern in some areas of the computer industry, and the directive will ensure 
that Europe continues on its own path which is a balanced approach that 
creates a climate for innovation and supports open source software."

Peter Hayward, divisional director at the Patent Office, added: "The directive 
in its current form is vital in protecting the innovations in the European 
software market.

"The intention is to maintain high criteria for those seeking patent 
protection, and to prevent any drift in patent standards towards the current 
US position.

"This was a highly productive meeting which brought out a number of key issues 
in the discussion which we will take forward."

The Patent Office has been in consultation with the software industry since 
1994. Responses to both formal and informal consultation have indicated that 
the law does not need to be changed, but requires clarification.

The Patent Office estimates that up to 20 per cent of patent applications 
received are for inventions which use software. Mere computer program 
listings, like lines of code, are protected by copyright but excluded from 
patent protection in the UK and Europe.

However, inventions in which software makes a technical contribution, like a 
mobile telephone or car engine management system, have always been, and will 
continue to be, patentable.

Hayward insisted that patents like these underpin the research and development 
infrastructures of many hi-tech businesses in Europe.

The directive is expected to return to the European Parliament for a second 
reading early next year.

http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r244799772
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