[EN english] Dear Member of the European Parliament, On wednesday May 7th at 09.00 in the Dorint Hotel (Boulevard Charlemagne 11-19) the Symposium "Software Patents: From Legal Wordings to Economic Reality" http://swpat.ffii.org/events/2003/europarl/05/ will begin with a keynote by Prof. Lawrence Lessig (Stanford Univ., author of "Code and other Laws of Cyberspace" and "The Future of Ideas") and FTC.gov Commissioner Mozelle W. Thompson Software Patents -- The U.S. as a Test Case and ends on the thursday the 8th at 19.00 after the final panel Bridging the Gap between Patent Science and Patent Legislation A program is found at the end of this mail. It is still open for your participation on a panel. Greens/EFA conduct a hearing Software Patents and SMEs on Thu May 8th 9.00 in ASP 1G2, in which SMEs and authors of EU-sponsored economic studies appear in person -- usually they are just phantoms serving the legitimation of political positions, some of which are quite unrelated to SME interests. At noon on Place du Luxembourg you may moreover enjoy a theater and choir performance "The Thoughts Are Patented". We would like to invite you and your friends to participate in the whole event or any of its parts, and, if you like, to chair one of the panels at the symposium, and to be our guest at the dinner of May 7th 20.00 at Taihon[1]. Yours sincerely -- Hartmut Pilch, FFII & Eurolinux Alliance tel. +49-89-12789608 Protecting Innovation against Patent Inflation http://swpat.ffii.org/ 140,000 votes 400 firms against software patents http://noepatents.org/ [FR français] Madame le Député, Monsieur le Député, Mercredi prochain, le 7 mai, à partir de 9 heures, à l'hôtel Dorint, se tiendra la Symposium "Brevets Logiciels : du texte légal à la réalité économique" http://swpat.ffii.org/events/2003/europarl/05 Elle débutera avec un discours du Professeur Lawrence Lessig de l'université Stanford, l'auteur de "Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace" et "The Future of Ideas" et du Commissaire de la Compétition du Gouvernment Américain Mozelle W. Thompson Les Brevets Logiciels -- comment tirer les leçons des erreurs américaines et se terminera le jeudi 8 après-midi par le panel Comment combler le fossé entre la science et la politique en matière du brevet Le programme se trouve à la fin de ma lettre. Il est encore ouvert pour vôtre participation. Auront lieu également une audition au Parlement (8 mai, 9 heures, ASP 1G2) et a 13h une représentation artistique "La Pensée est Brevetée" sur la Place du Luxembourg. Nous vous invitons ainsi que votre assistant(e) à prendre part à la conférence, soit en y assistant soit en présidant à l'un ou/et l'autre de ses panels. Nous vous invitons également à joindre les participants pour le diner du 7 mai au Taihon[1]. Veuillez croire, à l'expression de notre considération distinguée -- Hartmut Pilch, FFII & Alliance Eurolinux +49-89-12789608 Innovation vs Inflation de Brevets http://swpat.ffii.org/ 140000 votes 400 boites contre le brevet logiciel http://noepatents.org/ [DE deutsch] Sehr geehrtes Mitglied des Europäischen Parlaments, Am Mittwoch, den 7. Mai um 9.00 beginnt im Dorint-Hotel das Symposium "Software-Patente: Vom Juristischen Wortspiel zur Ökonomischen Realität" http://swpat.ffii.org/events/2003/europarl/05/ mit einer Einleitungsansprache von Prof. Lawrence Lessig (Univ. Stanford, Autor von "Code and other Laws of Cyberspace" und "The Future of Ideas") und dem Leiter der US-Wettbewerbsbehörde FTC.gov, Commissioner Mozelle W. Thompson Software Patents -- The U.S. as a Test Case und endet am Donnerstag, den 8. um 19.00 mit dem Podium Bridging the Gap between Patent Science and Patent Legislation Das Programm findet sich am Ende meines Schreibens. Es ist für Ihre Teilnahme noch offen. Die Grünen/EFA führen ferner am Donnerstag, den 8. Mai eine Anhörung: Software-Patente und KMU in ASP 1G2 durch. Dort werden diejenigen Phantome leibhaftig auftreten, welche die Befürworter von Softwarepatenten oft mehr oder weniger zu Unrecht als Stützen ihrer Argumentation zitieren: KMU und Autoren von EU-finanzierten Studien. Am Mittag findet auf dem Luxemburger Platz eine Theater- und Chor-Aufführung "Die Gedanken sind Patentiert" statt. Wir möchten Sie und Ihre Freunde gerne einladen, an den Veranstaltungen teilzunehmen oder auch einem der Podien des Symposiums vorzusitzen, sowie unser Gast beim Abendessen um 20.00 im Taihon[1] sein. Mit freundlichen Grüßen -- Hartmut Pilch, FFII e.V. und Eurolinux-Allianz +49-89-12789608 140000 Stimmen 400 Firmen gegen Logikpatente http://noepatents.org/ Innovation statt Patentinflation http://swpat.ffii.org/ --- [1] Restaurant Taihon, rue du marché au fromage 35, tél 02-514 50 58, near/près/Nähe métro/subway Grand Place gare Centrale PROGRAMME ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2003/05/07-8 BXL Dorint: From Legal Wordplay to Economic Reality Simultaneous Interpreting for DE->EN, FR->EN, ES->EN available +-------------------------------------------------------+ |time | about what? | who? | |-----+-----------------------+-------------------------| | |Software Patents -- The| | | |U.S. as a Test Case | | | |Keynote Speech: | | | |Learning from American |Prof. Lawrence Lessig | | |Mistakes | | | |The hearings held by |Co-Panelists: | | |the U.S. competition | Mozelle W. Thompson | | |agencies paint a darker| (Commissioner, US | | |picture of U.S. | Federal Trade | |09.00|practice than the | Commission) | | |report than the report | | | |on which the Commission| Brian Kahin | | |relies, and the | (Professor for | | |Undersecretary for | Information Policy | | |Intellectual Property | Studies, Univ. of | | |has described the | Michigan) | | |Patent Office as an | | | |agency in crisis. What | | | |can Europe learn from | | | |the U.S. experience? | | |-----+-----------------------+-------------------------| | |Civil Liberties under | | | |Overlapping Property | | | |Regimes | | | |Some companies have | | | |used patents to obtain | | | |broad exclusion scopes | | | |which copyright denied | | | |them. Some are using | | | |patents to make their | | | |competitors, copyright | | | |property useless. | * Dr. Swen | | |Proponents of the | Kiesewetter-Köbinger | | |directive say that | (patent examiner at | | |"patents and copyright | German Patent office | | |are complementary and | [1]) | |10.00|may overlap", whereas | * Lessig | | |earlier doctrines | * Ville Oksanen | | |called for a clear | (EFFI.org, Helsinki) | | |separation of spheres | * Jörg Wittenberger ( | | |of property. How has | askemos.org) | | |such overlapping worked| * MEP Piia-Noora Kauppi| | |in semiconductor | | | |topography and areas? | | | |Will the broadest | | | |property right always | | | |win out? Are civil | | | |liberties crushed under| | | |a broadness | | | |competition? How can an| | | |integrated system of | | | |intellectual/industrial| | | |be (re)created? | | |-----+-----------------------+-------------------------| | | | * Reinier Bakels | | | | (Amsterdam | | | | University, author of| | | | a EU-sponsored study | | | | on software patents) | | | | * RA Roman Sedlmaier | | | | (German attorney and | | | | writer of much-cited | | | | articles, coiner of | | | | the term "confusion | | |Software Patents and | by clarification") | | |Europe's Legal | * Jozéf Halbersztadt | | |Structure | (Examiner at the | | | | Polish Patent Office | | | * With the challenges| [2]) | | | facing the European| * Dr. Luuk Van Dijk ( | | | and global patent | vosn.nl, Netherlands)| | | system(s), how | * Mikko Välimäki ( | | | should decisions on| effi.org, Finnland) | |11.00| software and | * MEP Toine Manders (IP| | | business methods be| expert of ELDR, | | | made? And by whom? | Netherlands, author | | | * What can a EU | of JURI amendment 72,| | | directive achieve | which calls on the | | | in the context of | commission to | | | concurrence between| withdraw the | | | inter-governmental | directive because the| | | treaties and EU | fact that the | | | Law? | European Patent | | | | Convention and | | | | Community legislation| | | | exist alongside each | | | | other makes the | | | | current legal rules | | | | concerning the | | | | granting of patents | | | | unnecessarily | | | | confusing.) | | | | * Kahin | |-----+-----------------------+-------------------------| |12.00|Buffet | | |-----+-----------------------+-------------------------| | |Invention Concepts in | | | |Europe and the | | | |Resulting Patents | | | | | | | | * Did the European | | | | Patent Office | | | | really grant | | | | software patents | | | | "from its earliest | | | | days", as MEP | | | | Arlene McCarthy | | | | says in her report?| | | | What were the | | | | original standards | | | | of the EPC and how | | | | did the EPO change | | | | them from 1973 to | | | | 2003? | | | | * Were the changes | | | | motivated by | | | | evoltion of | * RA Jürgen Siepmann | | | technology or by | (legal delegate of | | | internal political | Linux-Verband, | | | evolutions of the | Germany) | | | patent system? How | * Halbersztadt | | | many patents of | * Daniel Retureau | | | which types were | (drafter of Opinion | |13.00| granted as a | of the Economic and | | | result? Were the | Social Council of the| | | changes gradual or | EU on the Directive | | | were there major | Proposal) | | | leaps and | * Xavier Drudis Ferran | | | revolutions? | (caliu.info) | | | * Was the EPO an | * MEP Neil MacCormick | | | innovator or a | | | | follower? How do | | | | national practises | | | | in Europe differ? | | | | Is the EPO | | | | violating Art 52 | | | | EPC? Is there a way| | | | back, or would that| | | | lead to | | | | "irreconcilable | | | | conflicts with the | | | | EPO", as MEP | | | | McCarthy says? | | | | * What options does | | | | the European | | | | Parliament have | | | | today for defining | | | | what is a | | | | patentable | | | | invention and what | | | | not? | | |-----+-----------------------+-------------------------| | | | * Richard Clark (MD, | | | | Elysium Ltd, UK, JPEG| | | | -- Editor and | | |Emerging Phenomena in | WebMaster) | | |Patent Practice | * Robert Dewar (CEO, | | | | gnat.com, USA) | | | * Thickets, Holdup, | * DEIM Ágoston (CEO, | | | Ambush, Broadcast | lsc.hu, Hungary) | |14.00| Litigation, | * Sylvain Perchaud (MD,| | | Contract Clauses. | europe-shareware.org)| | | Who benefits and | * Sven Biedermann | | | who loses? | (software | | | * Subsidizing | entrepreneur, | | | Failure? -- Patents| Germany) | | | after the Bust | * Kahin | | | | * MEP Luis Berenguer | | | | Fusta | | | | * MEP Mercedes Echerer | |-----+-----------------------+-------------------------| |15.00|Coffee | | |-----+-----------------------+-------------------------| | |IT Infrastructure | | | |Patents and the | | | |Information Society | | | | | | | | * The path of | | | | operating system | | | | kernel development | | | | is cluttered with | | | | patents. What kind | | | | of services and | | | | applications have | * Richard Stallman ( | | | been affected so | gnu.org) | | | far? | * Franco Gasperoni | | | * Yesterday's | (CEO, ACT Europe) | | | Innovators Locking | * David Hughes (CEO, | | | In Tomorrow's | hcc-embedded.com) | | | Innovation? | Hungary | | | Alcatel's | * Alan Cox (redhat.com)| |15.30| proclaimed strategy| * Santeri Kannisto | | | of patenting the | (CEO, sot.com, | | | "Next Generation | Finnland) | | | Internet" and the | * Felix Gaehtgens | | | consequences of a | (felix@symlabs.com, | | | possible domination| http:// | | | of software by | www.symlabs.com) | | | patent-oriented | * N.N. (Microsoft) | | | hardware | * MEP Marco Cappato | | | industries. | | | | * Microsoft's | | | | Patenting | | | | Strategies | | | | * As patent numbers | | | | increase and patent| | | | quality decreases, | | | | is the noose around| | | | Free OS Development| | | | becoming tighter or| | | | looser? | | |-----+-----------------------+-------------------------| | |E-Patents and | | | |E-Commerce | | | | | | | | * The directive | | | | proponents seem to | | | | consider | | | | advancements in | | | | database, | | | | groupware, | | | | enterprise | | | | ressource planning | | | | etc to be | * David Axmark (CTO, | | | patentable | MySQL, Sweden) | | | inventions but | * Jacob Hallen (CTO, AB| | | distance themselves| Strakt, Sweden; | | | from "pure business| president, Python | | | method patents". | Business Forum) | | | Can such a | * Bernhard Runge | |17.00| distinction prevent| (software developper,| | | the worst in | SAP) | | | Europe? | * Lars Soltau (CEO, | | | * Recently various | slab.de) | | | E-Commerce | * J.P. Smets (CEO, | | | companies, not all | nexedi.com) | | | of which develop | * Kahin | | | software, have been| * MEP Anders Wijkman[3]| | | attacked with | | | | E-Patents in the | | | | US. In many cases, | | | | equivalent patents | | | | have been granted | | | | in Europe and would| | | | become enforcible | | | | under the proposed | | | | directive. How | | | | would E-Commerce be| | | | affected? | | |-----+-----------------------+-------------------------| | |Dinner | | |19.00|location to be | | | |disclosed to | | | |participants | | +-------------------------------------------------------+ Continutation Thursday 2003/05/08 15.00-19.00 +-------------------------------------------------------+ |time | about what? | who? | |-----+-----------------------+-------------------------| | | | * Puay Tang (University| | | | of Sussex) | | | | * Prof. Jorge Cortell | | |Patents, Portfolios, | (software | | |and SMEs | entrepreneur and | | |Research shows that | professor for | | |SMEs are skeptical | ecommerce law) | | |about the value of | * Prof. Roberto DiCosmo| | |patents. How do the | (informaticist, | |15.00|numbers play out in the| Paris) | | |software industry with | * Mozelle W. Thompson | | |the great variation in | (FTC.gov) | | |size and business | * Sylvain Perchaud | | |model? Do portfolios | (president, | | |permit large companies | europe-shareware.org)| | |to "tax"? | * Matthieu Farcot | | | | (doctorand in | | | | information | | | | economics, Univ. | | | | Strasbourg) | |-----+-----------------------+-------------------------| | |Software Patents as | | | |Fiscal Tools | | | | | | | | * Generating Virtual | | | | Transactions with | | | | Virtual Inventions | | | | -- How Software | | | | Patents Help | | | | Companies Save | | | | Taxes | | | | * Patents and the |Dr. Jean-Paul | | | Stock Market -- |Smets-Solanes (CEO, | |16.00| Companies' Annual |nexedi.com) | | | reports list patent|Cortell | | | numbers as proofs |MEP N.N. | | | of strength and | | | | correlate them to R| | | | &D efforts. MEP | | | | Arlene McCarthy | | | | cites such "proven | | | | correlations" as a | | | | motive for | | | | legalising software| | | | patents. What do | | | | patent statistics | | | | really mean? | | |-----+-----------------------+-------------------------| |16.45|Coffee | | |-----+-----------------------+-------------------------| | |Patents, Standards, | | | |Interoperability and | | | |Competition | | | |Patents have made the | | | |work of standardisation| | | |bodies such as the W3C | | | |difficult and have | | | |often led to the | | | |exclusion of free | | | |software and shareware | | | |from the use of | * Richard Clark ( | | |standards. Competition | elysium.ltd.uk, JPEG | | |authorities in the US | Standardisation, | | |and Europe have tended | United Kingdom) | | |to be critical of | * Peter Holmes | | |patents, and the | (University of | |17.00|software patent | Sussex) | | |directive proposal | * Håkon Wium Lie (CTO, | | |contains provisions | opera.com) | | |which (pretend to) | * Perchaud | | |address this issue by | * Mozelle W. Thompson | | |an interoperability | (Commissioner, US | | |privilege, which some | Federal Trade | | |MEPs have proposed to | Commission) | | |further clarify and | | | |strengthen. Competition| | | |regulation is often | | | |seen at the forefront | | | |of efforts to limit the| | | |excesses of the patent | | | |system and similar | | | |systems. What can be | | | |achieved by this | | | |approach? | | |-----+-----------------------+-------------------------| | |Bridging the Gap | | | |between Patent Science | | | |and Patent Policy | | | |Fritz Machlup described| | | |the history of the | | | |patent system as a | | | |"victorious movement of| | | |lawyers against | * Tang | | |economists". How have | * Holmes | | |social science and | * DiCosmo | | |patent legislation | * Bakels | |18.00|interacted since then? | * Retureau | | |Why did so few | * Thompson | | |scientists take part in| * Brian Kahin | | |the European | (University of | | |Commission's | Michigan) | | |consultations? Why did | | | |economic studies | | | |practically without | | | |influence on the | | | |legislative process at | | | |the Commission, the | | | |Council and JURI? | | |-----+-----------------------+-------------------------| |19.00|Concluding Remarks |Mozelle Thompson, N.N. | |-----+-----------------------+-------------------------| | |Dinner | | |20.00|location disclosed to | | | |participants | | +-------------------------------------------------------+