The Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (ES-PTO/OEPM), the European Patent Office (EPO), the Industrial Property Unit of the European Commission and together with patent lawyers from UNICE (employers' federation) and other European Patent Movement strongholds are, under the auspices of the Spanish EU presidency and the Spanish Ministry for Economy and Technology, holding a two-day seminar in the Spanish Patent Office in Madrid. The seminar's agenda and invitation presupposes that there is an "evergrowing need" for "protecting" software innovation and channels the discussion into questions of how companies should go ahead doing this. In spite of the existence of a strong movement against software patents in Spain, the seminar keeps silent on the controversy and does not offer critical voices any space for exposing their views.

Programme SEMINARIO: "PROTECCIÓN Y ACCESO A LA INNOVACIÓN" The seminar can be attended remotely by real audio via this web page. OEPM (ES-PTO) page ES-PTO seminar 2002/05/06-7 Innovation in the Net mailing list thread El Pais: DE fuer Swpat, FR dagegen, ES unentschlossen commentary on the El Pais article ProInnova Spanish workgroup on innovation and related legal policies Unice: The Voice of the European (Patent) Industry UNICE is the confederation of european national employers' associations, founded for lobbying the EU. Members include MEDEF of France and BDI of Germany. The UNICE submission is written on letter paper with the slogan "voice of Business Europe" and contains the usual belief statements known from the patent lawyer culture, e.g. that patents are needed to reward innovation particularly of SMEs, patents need to be available in all fields of technology etc. The UNICE author, apparently also a patent lawyer, applauds the consultation paper's approach and demands clear regulation for patentability of software. He does not in any way explain how this relates to the interests of European industry, but UNICE has during the months after the consultation been actively lobbying the European Commission's various departments in order to remove resistance to the plans of the Commission's patent lawyers. elpais.es - Negocios - La directiva fantasma Long article in El Pais, written shortly before the Madrid Patent Orifice event. Reports about mixed sentiments toward software patents and rections to the CEC directive proposal in Spain. Says that UK and DE are pro swpat while FR is against and ES is undecided. Finds that most of the players know very little about the directive proposal or about swpat and that nobody really needs them while some severely oppose them.