EU sign-on effort on software patents

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

This is a URL for a sign-on letter to the European Commission in
opposition to US style software patents in Europe. 

 http://swpat.ffii.org/miert/indexen.html

See also the discussion on slashdot.org here:

 http://slashdot.org/articles/99/06/20/1310243.shtml

This is also a trade issue, since Article 27 of the WTO's TRIPS
agreement (on intellectual property) requires members of the WTO to
provide patents to "all fields of technology," with only a few
exceptions, and some US officials want to push for greater international
acceptance of software and business practices patents.  Also, the
working group on electronic commerce of the Trans Atlantic Consumer
Dialogue (http://www.tacd.org) is currently reviewing this issue in
terms of the WTO work program on electronic commerce.  

  Jamie Love <love@cptech.org>

Here is Article 27 of the TRIPS
  

                    Article 27
             Patentable Subject Matter

1.    Subject to the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3, patents shall be
available for any inventions, whether products or processes, in all
fields of technology, provided that they are new, involve an inventive
step and are capable of industrial application.See footnote 5 Subject to
paragraph 4 of Article 65, paragraph 8 of Article 70 and paragraph 3 of
this Article, patents shall be available and patent rights enjoyable
without discrimination as to the place of invention, the field of
technology and whether products are imported or locally produced.

2.    Members may exclude from patentability inventions, the prevention
within their territory of the commercial exploitation of which is
necessary to protect ordre public or morality, including to protect
human, animal or plant life or health or to avoid serious prejudice to
the environment, provided that such exclusion is not made merely because
the exploitation is prohibited by their law.

3.    Members may also exclude from patentability:

    (a)    diagnostic, therapeutic and surgical methods for the
treatment of humans or animals; 

    (b)    plants and animals other than micro-organisms, and
essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals
other than non-biological and microbiological processes. However,
Members shall provide for the protection of plant varieties either by
patents or by an effective sui generis system or by any combination
thereof. The provisions of this subparagraph shall be reviewed four
years after the date of entry into force of the WTO Agreement. 


Footnote: 5For the purposes of this Article, the terms "inventive step"
and "capable of industrial application" may be deemed by a Member to be
synonymous with the
terms "non-obvious" and "useful" respectively.
-- 
James Love
Consumer Project on Technology
http://www.cptech.org
love@cptech.org
202.387.8030; fax 202.234.5176