[Ecommerce] EU software patent delayed- Polish intervention

[michelle.childs@cptech.org]

>From BBC news online
Michelle:

EU software patent law delayed

The patent law could have ramifications for programmers
Controversial new EU rules for the patenting of computer-based inventions
have been put on hold due to a last minute intervention from Poland.
Poland - a large and therefore crucial EU member - has requested more time
to consider the issue, especially as it relates to the patenting of
software.

Critics say the law would favour large companies over small, innovative ones.

They say it could have massive ramifications for developments such as open
source software.

Heated debate

Polish ministers want to see the phrasing of the text of the Directive on
the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions changed so that it
excludes the patenting of software.

The planned law has ignited angry debate about whether the EU should allow
the patenting of computer programs and internet business methods as
currently happens in the US.

So, for instance, US-based Amazon.com holds a patent on 'one-click shopping'.

Critics claim the law, which the EU says is needed to harmonise with the
US, is little more than a law on ideas.

"Patent rights, it is claimed, protect inventors but in this case it is
exclusively the interests of the big companies that are protected," Eva
Lichtenberg, a Austrian Green member of the European Parliament said in a
statement.

"Smaller, innovative firms cannot afford the patenting and legal costs
that the directive would inflict on them," she added.

The European Parliament has already clashed with the European Union on the
issue and there have been accusations that the process to decide the issue
has been undemocratic.

The directive has been subject to several previous delays