Weekly Edition
Return to the Announcements page
| |||||||||||||||||||
FSFE: European Parliament adopts unitary patent
= European Parliament adopts deeply flawed unitary patent, gives up power over innovation policy = [Read online: http://fsfe.org/news/2012/news-20121211-01.html ] Today, the European Parliament has adopted a proposal to create a patent with unitary effect for Europe. This decision will leave Europe with a patent system that is both deeply flawed and prone to overreach. It also ends democratic control of Europe's innovation policy. "We are disappointed that so many MEPs were prepared to throw Europe's researchers and innovators under the bus just to achieve a deal, any deal" says Karsten Gerloff, President of the Free Software Foundation Europe. "It is natural that after nearly four decades of discussions on a single patent system for Europe, most of those involved simply want the debate to end. But we would have expected more of our elected representatives." == Intense criticism from all sides == In adopting the proposal, MEPs chose to disregard intense criticism of the proposal from all sides of the debate. Patent lawyers[1], independent legal experts[2], SMEs[3]and civil society groups such as FSFE all voiced their concerns to MEPs ahead of the vote. FSFE recognises the important work done by some MEPs, in particular the Greens/EFA, in informing their colleagues about the serious flaws in the proposal. 1. http://ipkitten.blogspot.de/2012/12/unitary-patent-deja-v... 2. http://www.ip.mpg.de/en/pub/publications/opinions/unitary... 3. http://www.april.org/en/against-software-patents-460-comp... With this decision, the European Parliament has essentially given up its power to shape Europe's innovation policy. That power will instead fall to the European Patent Office, which has a track record of awarding monopoly powers on the widest possible range of subject matter. "We are alarmed to see both legislative and executive power in the hands of a single agency," says Karsten Gerloff. "The separation of powers is a fundamental principle of democracy. We regret that in today's vote, many MEPs were prepared to give this up in exchange for an ill-conceived compromise." == Software patents, fragmentation and confusion == The text adopted today will lead to fragmentation of jurisdiction and of jurisprudence across the European Union. Creating divergence and confusion, the proposal will make the patent system much harder to navigate for small and medium enterprises. The European Patent Office will have much greater leeway to continue its practice of granting patents on software. This will harm competition and innovation, and create unnecessary risks for businesses and software developers. It is also likely that the adopted text will lead to more intense patent litigation in Europe, including by patent trolls. FSFE is also concerned about the lack of a research exception and of a provision for compulsory licenses. According to the Max Planck Institute for "Intellectual Property", the envisioned patent court is incompatible with European Union law[4]. These fundamental flaws mean that considerable uncertainty remains about the way in which the patent system will operate in future. 4. http://www.ip.mpg.de/en/pub/publications/opinions/unitary... == Next steps == According to the European Parliament's website[5], "the international agreement creating a unified patent court will enter into force on 1 January 2014 or after thirteen contracting states ratify it, provided that UK, France and Germany are among them. The other two acts would apply from 1 January 2014, or from the date when the international agreement enters into force, whichever is the latest. Spain and Italy are currently outside the new regime, but could decide to join in at any time." 5. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pressroom/content/2... === More information: === - Overview of issues with the unitary patent package[6] - Resources on the unitary patent package[7] 6. http://fsfe.org/campaigns/swpat/current/unitary-patent.en... 7. https://www.unitary-patent.eu/ == About the Free Software Foundation Europe == The Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) is a non-profit non-governmental organisation active in many European countries and involved in many global activities. Access to software determines participation in a digital society. To secure equal participation in the information age, as well as freedom of competition, the Free Software Foundation Europe (FSFE) pursues and is dedicated to the furthering of Free Software, defined by the freedoms to use, study, modify and copy. Founded in 2001, creating awareness for these issues, securing Free Software politically and legally, and giving people Freedom by supporting development of Free Software are central issues of the FSFE. http://fsfe.org/ _______________________________________________ Press-release mailing list Press-release@fsfeurope.org https://mail.fsfeurope.org/mailman/listinfo/press-release (Log in to post comments)
overview of the unitary patent problem Posted Dec 12, 2012 2:20 UTC (Wed) by coriordan (guest, #7544) [Link]
I've made a quick overview of why this is a problem:
http://news.swpat.org/2012/12/unitary-patent/
I'll probably flesh it out over the next day or two. The main issue is that patent acquisition and litigation becomes much more efficient and lucrative, so Europe is going to have US levels of patent problems.
(There's also a risk that the European Parliament has given away its ability to legislate on whether software is patentable. That would be a complete catastrophe, but I haven't checked the final text.)
overview of the unitary patent problem Posted Dec 12, 2012 4:59 UTC (Wed) by Cyberax (✭ supporter ✭, #52523) [Link]
It's not so simple. An injunction of a German patent court right could cause a problem for ANY company doing business in EU. An enterprising troll can sue a company in several countries, and it's entirely possible that a troll can win a lawsuit in just one country.
Having a single patent court at least makes it easier to defend against the patents. So it's not ALL bad.
overview of the unitary patent problem Posted Dec 12, 2012 12:25 UTC (Wed) by coriordan (guest, #7544) [Link]
The problem you mention is theoretical. Patent holders weren't doing that, so "solving" that problem isn't a win.
Patent holders were picking the most friendly of the large countries (usually Germany, sometimes the UK) and suing there. Germany and the UK both have specialised patent courts. Judges from these courts will be obvious candidates to sit on the new court. So the worst parts of the old system are going to become the rule for the whole of Europe under the new system.
FSFE: European Parliament adopts unitary patent Posted Dec 12, 2012 9:26 UTC (Wed) by michaeljt (subscriber, #39183) [Link]
I find it interesting that almost half of the on-line BBC News article about this is about the software patent implications[1]. Obviously the issue is gaining more public visibility.
FSFE: European Parliament adopts unitary patent Posted Dec 12, 2012 12:04 UTC (Wed) by Felix.Braun (subscriber, #3032) [Link]
It's not totally clear from the press release how the introduction of a unitary patent (and patent court) will lead to fragmentation of jurisdiction and jurisprudence, as the release claims. That result sounds rather counter-intuitive and would have merited some justification. The fact that this is lacking rather distracts from the press release's credibility, in my view.
FSFE: European Parliament adopts unitary patent Posted Dec 12, 2012 14:06 UTC (Wed) by pboddie (subscriber, #50784) [Link]
It's written up in the "The Unitary Patent Package: Twelve Reasons for Concern" document linked to from the section covering fragmentation. Once again, the spin from the proponents of such schemes conveniently conceals the actual mess that will apparently be created.
I guess that refactoring will never catch on with lawmakers. Just like inefficient software projects where the problem of increasing complexity is "solved" by throwing even more developers at the code, unless there's a sudden shortage of legal and bureaucratic resources, there will be no motivation to construct coherent and fair legal frameworks that efficiently and effectively regulate society's activities.
FSFE: European Parliament adopts unitary patent Posted Dec 12, 2012 23:41 UTC (Wed) by marcH (subscriber, #57642) [Link]
Law is much worse: in software at least some projects eventually go to the bin.
FSFE: European Parliament adopts unitary patent Posted Dec 13, 2012 1:46 UTC (Thu) by tialaramex (subscriber, #21167) [Link]
I think we're about equal really. Laws do go away, both through an actual mechanism (repeal/ overrule) and because the societies that used them went away or transitioned to different laws (e.g. Mayan laws are gone, so are the colonial British laws from the American colonies)
Mostly laws rust, and mostly software rusts. Quietly becoming obsolete with no-one really caring. Until one day whoops, something bad happens.
And, at least the rusty laws are interpreted by judges who can sometimes be relied upon to laugh heartily and dismiss something as inherently preposterous. The machine will happily execute your rusty old code and truncate every file on disk that contains a non-ASCII character in its name or whatever.
Gordon Dickson's story "Computers Don't Argue" posits a future where we eliminate this difference and a minor goof by a book club escalates until its unlucky and entirely innocent customer is eventually executed for murder.
|
|||||||||||||||||||