Statement by the European Small Business Alliance against the Software Patent Directive

Statement by the European Small Business Alliance against the Software Patent
Directive

You will find the original releases at the following addresses:

http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/ceapme0309/ceapme-pr0309.en.pdf
http://swpat.ffii.org/papers/eubsa-swpat0202/ceapme0309/ceapme-ab0309.en.pdf


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European Confederation of Associations of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

                                                    Avenue de la Renaissance 1 
                                                    B-1000 Brüssel 
                                                    Tel 0032/2/739 63 59 
                                                    Fax 0032/2/736 05 71 
                                                    ceapme@skynet.be 
                                                    www.ceapme.org

Statement to the Software-Patent-Directive

CEA-PME (engl. ECA-SME) is an ideologically neutral and non-party Confederation
of 22 member associations from 19 European countries representing in total more
than 500,000 enterprises. They represent the interests of SMEs in all sectors
to the European institutions with the aim of giving them a level of influence
commensurate with their importance within the European economy. 

Mario Ohoven, President of the Confédération Européenne des Associations de
Petites et Moyennes Entreprises (CEA-PME), rejects the proposed Directive on
the Patent ability of Computer-Implemented Inventions, since this proposal
strongly runs contrary to the interests of European Software-Enterprises.
Should the European Parliament adapt this proposal without any changes,
European economy would be threatened with the loss of thousands of jobs, a
dramatic decline in innovation and even the stop of innovation for SME's. 

If the Directive is enforced as it is considered, SME's who do not possess
legal advisors will be confronted with enormous additional costs, since in the
future they will have to carry out wide inquiries in matters of patents for
every software-project. This does not only regard developers of software, but
also computer retailer and IT-branches of enterprises of application. They will
also be confronted with costs for licensing for the utilisation of external
patents, additional costs for the development and costs for own patents in case
enterprises should try to save themselves from the attacks of others. 

Empiric studies (i.e.  Frauenhofer-Institut) about the behaviour of SME's in
the Software field have shown, that patents are the less effective method to
protect investments. In order to protect themselves from potential attacks
software-patent-supporters suggest applying for as many patents as possible in
order to establish a patent-portfolio. However, especially SME's used to get
along perfectly without patents. They are perfectly protected by the copyright
law. 

Unlike most complex technologies, the opportunity to develop software is open
to small companies, and even to individuals. Software patens damage innovation
by raising costs and uncertainties in assembling the many components needed for
complex computer programs and constraining the speed and effectiveness of
innovation. These risks and liabilities are particularly burdensome for SME's,
which play a central role in software innovation in Europe as well as North
America.  Moreover, within the ICT sector, expansion of patent protection has
been found to lead to an increase in the strategic use of patents, but not to a
demonstrable increase in innovation.

Copyright and other rules of competition permit SME's to grow despite the
overwhelming resource advantages of large companies. The flexible and
easy-growing software-industrie could become a clumsy industry, because of the
need for access to cross-licensing agreements and the legal protection of large
corporations. While some SME's will be able to prosper in this new environment,
many will not. In particular, validating loosened standards on patent ability
will cloud the prospects of Europe's ascendant free and open source software
industry while preserving the dominance of present market leaders. 

CEA-PME promotes the harmonisation of the European patent practice. However a
way has to be found, that neither constrains SME's nor the free
Software/Open-Source-Software. The best solution would be, to abstain from the
enlargement of patent-systems on the field of logic and to clearly declare in
the directive, that data processing is not technical and thus not patentable.

CEA-PME holds the view that the existing legal legislation ­ as regulated in
the copyright law and the European Patent Agreement, Article 52 is sufficient
and should only be confirmed within the EC-directive. The interpretation of the
concerning regulation should be left to the jurisprudence.