Latest News
2006-08-11 Commission publishes some slides presented at the Public Hearing of last 12 July
2006-07-12 Commission says 'No comment' about the independence of judges at the EPLA central court
2006-07-12 FFII Statement at Patent Policy Hearing
2006-07-12 MEP Lichterberger asks about second closed hearing
2006-07-10 EPO dogmatic, short-sighted and power-hungry, says European Commission
2006-07-10 Commission Cheats European SMEs in Patent Consultation, auf deutsch
2006-07-03 Commission publishes the final agenda for the meeting of the 12 July 2006
2006-06-26 Public hearing on the future patent policy in Europe (Brussels, 12 July 2006)
2006-06-02 Consultation Internal Market Policy - You are invited to submit your contribution by 15 June 2006.
2006-05-03 European Transparency Initiative - new EU consultation about lobbying transparency
2006-05-08 Commission postpone the hearing to 12 July 2006 (registration deadline: 5 June)
2006-04-21 Other consultation: UK Gowers review on Intellectual Property
2006-04-12 The EU consultation period is now closed.
2006-04-04 Send a fax in order to support the FFII consultation position paper (deadline wed 12 April)
2006-04-04 Press: FFII requests, gets consultation extension from EU Commission
2006-03-30 French free software association April publishes its answer to the consultation
2006-03-22 FFII Open Letter calls for participation in Community Patent Consultation
2006-03-15 Press: European Parliament votes against mutual recognition of patents by the EU Member States
2006-03-13 iMatix Corporation answers the Commission
2006-03-13 Download the FFII analysis of the consultation as a PDF document
2006-03-08 Open letter to President Barroso to request improvements to the consultation procedure
2006-03-08 Press: Community Patent consultation procedure seriously flawed
Introduction
In January 2006, the European Commission started a consultation on a project that, if it goes according to current plans, will result in the legalization of software patents, which are known to be devastating to the software industry. The project is the Community Patent. While the essential idea, having EU-wide patents, is a good one, the current Commission proposal would transfer EU and member state legislative and judicial power to the European Patent Office, which would effectively legalize their hitherto illegal practice of granting software patents.
The Commission asks any interested party to fill-in a questionnaire with their views. The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) questions the validity of the procedure, based on the serious lack of accessibility, which means that a majority of EU businesses are completely excluded from answering. However, we also recommend participation to those businesses that are able to do so, since this will demonstrate to what extent businesses are affected.
How to Answer
If you have time, start with the Introduction for help with and information about answering the consultation questionnaire.
If you are in a hurry, skip to the How to Answer section to get a step-by-step overview of how to answer. Remember to answer question 5 personally.
This consultation is open to all, and will be closed on 12 April 2006. The Commission services will publish a report on the outcome of this consultation. It will be available on the Internal Market and Services Directorate's General website.
Complaints
The FFII has raised concerns about the consultation procedure, notably its lack of transparency and accessibility. If you have found the consultation hard to understand and answer, and feel that the Commission has not provided sufficient information in your language, read Complaint Procedure for help with sending in a formal complaint about the consultation.
Donations
If you produce or use software, as an individual or an organisation you are affected by software patents. The FFII needs your donations in order to produce high-quality positions such as this site. The value of the information contained in this site is very high. Please help us continue this work - donate today.