The EPLA proposal for Software Patents
The Software Patent fight goes on
The FFII has identified three separate ways for the EPO and patent industry to win software patents in Europe:
- Create a specialized court to impose the EPO "interpretation" of the European Patent Convention on EU member states (this is EPLA).
- Modify the EPC Implementing Regulations to legitimise the current practice. This is how the EPO implemented biotech patents. It would require 75% of EPC signatories under the new EPC 2000 treaty (in force from December 2007).
- Modify the EPC itself, removing the constraints of article 52. This would require a unanimous vote of EPC signatories under EPC 2000.
News
"Council seeks to legalise software patents with the Community Patent" says French expert
The Council seeks to legalise software patents with the Community Patent, says Mr Pellegrini, ex-advisor of Michel Rocard, former MEP and rapporteur on the rejected software patent directive. The ultimate goal of this move is to create central caselaw on software patents by a specialized patent court. — Comments: 0 — by 
zoobab 1234361825|%O ago
Microsoft-sponsored "Listing of high growth companies" calls for EPLA
"Europe's 500", set up by the EU Commission in 1996 has now apparently become a proxy for Microsoft's EU software patent ambitions. Time to warn the Commission about MS's monopolistic... oh, hang on... — Comments: 0 — by 
pieterh 1206386214|%O ago
Italian MEP Cappato questions Council and Commission on patent quality measurement
The Council and the Commission has answered a question from an italian MEP Marco Cappato on the quality of patents granted, and the future Community patent. The National Patent Offices who are populating the Working Group on Patents of the Council have really few things to say about patent quality. — Comments: 0 — by zoobab 1204296197|%O ago
IAM magazine admits that a central court can legalize software patents
Joff Wild, chief editor of the IAM magazine, admits on his blog that the creation of a central patent court in Europe will be instrumental in legalizing software patents. — Comments: 0 — by zoobab 1202066035|%O ago
The EPO is already lobbying the Slovenian Presidency for EU-EPLA
The EPO will held its next European Patent Forum and European Inventor of the Year 2008 in Ljubljana. The event will be co-organised by the European Patent Office, the government of Slovenia, the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office and the European Commission. Slovenia will hold the EU Council Presidency in the first half of 2008. The EPO is already lobbying the Slovenian Presidency to get a central court to validate software patents. — Comments: 0 — by zoobab 1197394572|%O ago
Commission did not receive the Worst Priviledge Access 2006 for the patent consultation
It seems, looking at the wording of an answer to a parliamentary question on patents, that the Commission did not receive the award "Worst Privilege Access 2006" for cheating the patent consultation of 2006. — Comments: 0 — by zoobab 1196075451|%O ago
Report from EU Presidency Symposium in Munich
In June 2007, the German EU Presidency conducted a symposium ‘The Future of the European Patent Judiciary’, which tried to give new momentum to “industry” calls for uniform enforcement of EPO-granted English-only patents by means of an international patent court that is closely linked to the EPO. — Comments: 0 — by pieterh 1193847800|%O ago
Quotes
"The acrimonious debate over the proposed directive on computer-implemented inventions might never have arisen if the patent litigation system in Europe had been unified, thereby eliminating the possibility of disparate national rulings on the same patent matter."
— David Sant, former EPO lobbyist in Brussels
“We must moreover continue to attempt to harmonise the practise of granting patents for computer-implemented inventions at the European level. This is to be attempted by a common European patent court system (EPLA) in which the member states can voluntarily participate. Thereby a unified procedure and legal certainty are achieved.”
"The large multinationals who are pushing for the European Patent Court may be more concerned about the substance of European patent law rather than the need for a single forum […] The treatment of software is certainly one area of law that seems to concern large multinationals in ITC industries a lot, but I suspect that they look at the European Patent Court more generally as a way of influencing patent policy without having to go through the more skeptical European Parliament."
— Jim Bessen, Research on Innovation
"Baumann added that the new court was not intended to "codify software patents ", but it was hoped it would provide better intellectual property protection for inventions with embedded software, such as mobile phones and satellite navigation systems."
— James Murray, IT Week
"The current situation shows why such talks are necessary – a central European patent court will help bring the certainty that, in a number of areas such as software and biotechnology, we currently do not have."
— Joff Wild, Intellectual Asset Management Magazine
"Applying the EPLA to software patents granted by the EPO would create a dangerous body of jurisprudence on an issue which was clearly discarded by the European Parliament and by European stakeholders one year ago."
— UEAPME, Patent litigation agreement is not a substitute to a comprehensive patent policy
"From a software-patents point of view, the EPLA would have far worse consequences than the rejected patentability directive would have had: not only would software patents become more enforceable in Europe but also would patent-holders in general be encouraged to litigate."
— Florian Mueller, software developer who founded the NoSoftwarePatents campaign
"This short questionnaire seeks information to help with an assessment by the UK-IPO of the impact of the proposed European Patent Court on UK companies. It is aimed at companies and organisations holding patents. […] It is hoped that the Court will reduce the need for parallel litigation in a number of countries and result in greater consistency of judgments."
— UKIPO, Assessment of the impact of the proposed European Patent Court on UK companies
"All the European institutions and industry have worked hard and constructively on the issue of CII patents for some time. Europe’s high tech industry will support the efforts of the European institutions to find broader improvements to the European patent system that will particularly benefit the interests of smaller companies."
— EICTA, Europe’s High Tech Industry Welcomes European Parliament Decision
"According to the Parliament, the Community Patent has been mentioned by a number of MEPs as the appropriate legislative instrument to address the issue of software patentability."
— Out-law, Community Patent gets embroiled in software patent fight (7th July 2005)
"Does the Community Patent restart the debate over patents for computer-implemented inventions (software patents)? Why or why not? Pilch: It restarts the push for software patents, without a debate.[…] The Community Patent plan doesn't even mention the subject of software, although, make no mistake about it, software patentability is one of the main drivers of these plans."
— NSP, Current situation
"The Council and a part of the Commission seeks to legalise software patents illegally granted by the European Patent Office (an extra-community institution outside of any control) through the implementation of the Community Patent […]."
— François Pellegrini, Etoile: François Pellegrini, défenseur des libertés numériques et candidat aux élections européennes
