News after the Conference

Summary

• When: June 1st, 2005
• Where: the European Parliament and the Renaissance Hotel, both in Brussels
• Details and programme: plain text version, high resolution version (PDF, 3.8MB), low resolution version (PDF, 700KB) (last update: 2005/05/30 1, 14h00)
• Entrance fee: the conference is free of charge, but prior registration is mandatory
• Registration: conference registration (Without registration you cannot enter the European Parliament!)
• Related event: conference on June 2nd by the Greens/EFA and FSF Europe on patents and Open Source/Free Software

Overview: Gaining Perspective on the Software Patent Directive

With the Commission's recent refusal to reconsider its proposal for a directive "on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions" members of the new European Parliament are confronted with an extraordinarily controversial and complex issue with little guidance from the Commission.

The directive was originally presented as a narrow harmonization measure, but the debate that has developed since reflects the enormous stakes for software developers and users - and for how information and knowledge processes are regulated and supported.

This conference will examine software patents and the proposed Directive from a range of perspectives:

• the U.S. experience
• interoperability and software dependence
• European investments in knowledge creation and use
• national and regional innovation policy
• competition in software, Internet services, and electronic commerce
• social and economic interests of new member countries
• comparative advantage in the global economy

Two afternoon panels will look at the issue from the perspective of individual companies and interest groups. A final panel will look at the legislation, with attention to both general principles of patent law policy and to individual provisions and amendments.

Events Thursday

The conference will be followed by more patent-related events:

• Thursday, June 2nd: the Greens/EFA group with FSF Europe organises a conference on patents and Open Source/Free Software
• Thursday, June 2nd: A hearing of the EPP group, initially organised by shadow rapporteur Piia-Noora Kauppi, but then appropriated by German EPP group around Lehne and Mayer, who gave the floor mostly to patent lawyers, patent officials and lobbyists of large corporations (patent lawyers from Nokia, Scania and Siemens and Microsoft lobbyist Hugo Lueders). In his closing words, Lehne said that patents are very important for industry and suggested that the opposition came mostly from members of a kind of sect that is trying to subvert the whole patent system rather than from industry.

More information

• PR announcing the conference
• Our previous conference -- November 2004 in the EP and at Park Hotel, with similar subjects and participants
• Addenda wiki page
• Internal pages (programme with unconfirmed speakers etc)