Treaty of Rome General Directorate for the Internal Market Directorat Général pour le Marché Intérieur Generaldirektion Binnenmarkt CEC-DGIM Industrial Property Unit EUK-GDBM Dienststelle für Geistiges Eigentum und Gewerblichen Rechtschutz CCE-DGMI Unité pour la Propriété Industrielle European Commission Software Patentability Project Directory Softwarepatentierungsprojekt der Europäischen Kommission Projet Brevets Logiciels de la Commission Européenne European Commission Software Patentability Project Europäische Kommission / Generaldirektion Binnenmarkt / Dienststelle für Gewerblichen Rechtschutz European Commission / General Directorate for the Internal Market / Industrial Property office Commission Européenne / Directorat Général pour le Marché Intérieur / office pour la propriété industrielle Utility Models Directive Gebrauchsmuster-Direktive Utility Models Directive Directive Certificats d'Utilité DGIM on Electronic Commerce Lettera al Commissario Europeo Mario Monti Prosa: Contro Gli Brevetti Software Firma la tua adesione No-Patents Logo Paolo Didone Treaty on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Übereinkommen über handelsbezogene Aspekte der Rechte des geistigen Eigentums Texte définitif de la Loi de l'Internet League for Programming Freedom (LPF) on Software Patents An initiative to prevent the extension of patentability to software in the USA. In the early 1990s, when people started noticing what the patent courts had been doing in the 80s, it was already rather late. Richard Stallman, Mitch Kapor, Pamela Samuelson and other activists, entrepreneurs and intellectuals were able to mobilise a certain degree of awareness on this issue and have some hearings conducted where the LPF's position received moral support from big names such as Adobe and Oracle. In the end the patent lobby did what it it wanted all along. Internet Patent News Service Professional Services for Busting Bad Patents Gregory Aharonian: The Patent Examination System is Intellectually Corrupt IBM Patent Policy Consumer Project on Technology: Public Policy Issues Related to Intellectual Property DPMA: Hinweise zur Anmeldung von Computerprogrammen Europäisches Patentamt Office Européen de Brevets Office Européen de Brevets Wired: Patently Absurd EPO requires proprietary software for access Polémiques de Breese protecting competition against the abuse of software patents 11 Industry Leaders Speak Out Against Software Patents Contradictions of Software Patenting with the Rome Treaty French State Secretary of Industry stresses necessity to study impact before any reform European Parlament and others have endorsed Patent inflation Breese sur les effets pervers des logiciels libres World Trade Organisation Organisation Mondiale de la Propriété Intellectuelle WIPO discussions on harmonisation Organisation Mondiale de la Propriété Intellectuelle Trilateral Web site of US, Japan and European Patent offices Japan's Ministry for Trade and Industry (Tsûsanshô/MITI) Trilateral Web site of US, Japan and European Patent offices WIPO Update WIPO Patent Database TRANSPATENT.COM Deutsches PatentGesetz Prüfungsrichtlinien des Deutschen Patentamtes Merkblatt fuer Patentanmelder Slashdot: Oracle's policy statement on software patents Base.Com Software Patents Documentation Wired 199909: Net Overloads USPatent Office Wired 1999-09: Patent's Net Result: Nothing? OpenPatents Patent Nonsense and Collective Security in the Age of Software Patents Mutual Defense Against Software Patents (LPF) EU-Bericht über die Wettbewerbfähigkeit der europäischen Industrie Free Software developper forced to remove GIF support MPEG patent issues Preparing for the intellectual-property offensive The Microsoft Antitrust Trial and Free Software RMS calls for boycott of Amazon L'AFUL s'oppose à la brevétabilité des logiciels AFUL, FFII et Breese 1 AFUL, FFII et Breese 2 Folgemaßnahmen zum Grünbuch Follow-up Paper to the Greenpaper Nouveaux Droit pour les Auteurs Freetype Patent Warning TrueType Patents Eine Welt ohne Softwarepatente? IPIX vs The International VR Community Patents and the IPIX case Offene Standards in Gefahr W3W says free standards are in danger Heise-Verlag Software muss frei sein! Stallman wird durch Preis geehrt Patentfluten - Zerstört die Sicherung Geistigen Eigentums das Internet? IBM Patent Server The Software Patent Institute Microsoft P3P Patent Microsoft P3P Patent Claims BeFree User Profile Patent BeFree User Profile Patent Claims Microsoft Electronic Asset System Patent uspat Katzentrainingspatent Katzentraining InfoSpinner patent for generating dynamic Web pages may ruffle feathers Unisys Web Site LZW license LPF on the GIF case University of Michigan Media Union Library: Software Patents Organisation Mondiale de la Propriété Intellectuelle Save The Web Microsoft-Betriebssysteme mit eingebauter Hintertür Andreas Kleinert tw rupp Auslegung/Biopatente Art 33 neue Ausfuehrungsordnung Ausfuehrungsordnung http://www.european-patent-office.org/epo/ca/index.htm : en Greenpeace-Studie USPAT No. 5991735 Benutzerprofile Computerwoche: BeFree erhält Patent auf Benutzerprofile Computerwoche: OpenSource von der Justiz bedroht Law News Network: Amazon gets it, Wired didn't UNPO UNDP, United Nations Development Program, «Human Development Report» 1999, Oxford University Press, 1999. European Software Patent Caselaw us-professor who is claiming to use his right on free speech to publish source of strong cryptography. LPF Survey DPatAmt befasst sich mit MIPEX / SGML-Einreichung DPatAmt befasst sich mit MIPEX / SGML-Einreichung Burn All Gifs The Atlantic: Hey Ho, Gifs must Go Heise zu Gif 1 GIF-Bilder sollen aus dem Web verschwinden ESR on GIF Brevets Français Windowing Patent IRIS IRIS Suite Munich ZDNET-Artikel de EPO Guidelines EPO Guidelines EPA Prüfrichtlinien EPA Richtlinien: Inhalt EPA Richtlinien Kapitel 4 Smets Munich J.P. Smets: Software Useright: Solving Inconsistencies of Software Patents J.P. Smets 1999: Software Useright: Solving Inconsistencies of Software Patents A mathematical model describing the economic effects of sofware patents and a concept for solving some of the problems: the distinction between copyright and useright. J.P. Smets: Software Useright: Solving Inconsistencies of Software Patents Sen Charles Schumer calls US Patent Office expansive Peter Deutsch on copyright. Patenting would have made Deutsch's economic model impossible eine diplomarbeit ueber open source licensen, hat aber eine gute erklaerung von "geistigem eigentum" Intellectual Property Rights and the Dissemination of Research Tools in Molecular Biology MKoek Thesis MIT professors go afer Ask Sleeve life decision life decision 991220 Entscheidung Leben Décision Vie epo updates The Register: Nader slams MS pricing, licenses, demands Office ports UCITA Report Markengrabbing Patent auf Cookie-Technik Amazon-Patent Volltext Amazon-Klage techweb on Amazon case Search for EPO decisions Décision OEB T 1173/97: produit programme d'ordinateur IBM EPA-Entscheidung T 1173/97: IBM computer program product Décision OEB T 1173/97: produit programme d'ordinateur IBM Décision OEB pour produit programme IBM EPA Entscheidung für IBM Programmprodukt EPO TBA decision for IBM program product EPO TBA decision: Exclusion of computer program product from patentability --- not under all circumstances EPO TBA decision in favor of IBM "computer program product" EPO decision in favor of IBM "Method of document definition utilizing a list directed expression architecture" EPO decision in favor of IBM "Method of document definition utilizing a list directed expression architecture" EPO decision in favor of IBM 'Method of document definition utilizing a list directed expression architecture' gilcd non-gilc Norway cracks down on DVD interoperability web poisioning patent Lemuria Software Lemuria Bundespatentgericht Entscheidungen des BPatG Grundsatzurteil, das den Weg fuer Geschaeftsideenpatente ebnet USPTO Examiniation Guidelines for Computer-Related Inventions, available only in proprietary formats Examiniation Guidelines for Computer-Related Inventions Commission Approves Greenpaper Grünbuch über das Gemeinschaftspatent und das Patentschutzsystem in Europa Greenpaper on the Community Patent and the Patent System in Europe Livre Vert sur le Brevet Communautaire et le Système de Brevet en Europe La Commission annonce un Système ambitieux de Protection de Brevet Kommission kündigt anspruchsvolles Patentschutzprogramm an Follow-up Paper to the Greenpaper Folgemaßnahmen zum Grünbuch Les suites a donner au Livre vert CCE - Direction Générale du Marché Intérieur EUK - Generaldirektion Binnenmarkt CCE - Direction Générale du Marché Intérieur La Commission annonce un Système ambitieux de Protection de Brevet examples of European Software patents Smets Presentation inflation of contributory infringement problems with Internet patents Lessig on Amazon and Business Method Patents I'm going to sue your ass Software Patents Tangle the Web Just because software hasn't experienced a cyber-Bhopal doesn't mean it won't ever happen. Indeed, the noxious clouds of litigation now gathering around e-commerce are renewing industry fears. ... There's ample historical evidence that overly broad patents have stifled innovation in emerging industries. ... In the early years of aviation in the United States, Orville and Wilbur Wright fought a largely successful nine-year campaign to enforce their broad patent on the airplane. While innovators helped aviation thrive in Europe, the Wright brothers' patent crippled American industry until the outbreak of World War I, when the U.S. government forced the Wrights to license their technology so that planes could be built more expeditiously for the war effort. Techreview Patent Scorecard 2000 regular report on patent strategies of various corporations, here: AT&T, 3M. AT&T IP vice president Jeff George explains: "We want to build picket fences around the technologies that we think are most important for the future." LAMY Droit de l'Informatique et des Réseaux Berliner Konferenz über wirtschaftspolitische Aspekte der Softwarepatentierung Members of the Trilateral Commission Themen der Konferenz über wirtschaftspolitische Aspekte der Patentierung von Software Einladungsschreiben des BMWi RMS on Software Freedom OpenSource EU-Interoperabilitätsdirektive EU Interoperability Directive Directive Interoperabilité UE EUR-LEX OSSLaw OSSLaw Texte définitif de la Loi de l'Internet linki do organizacji przeciwnych patentom software'owym The Game Anti Patent Ring The President's Information Infrastructure Task Force A Framework for Global Electronic Commerce Themen der Konferenz über wirtschaftspolitische Aspekte der Patentierung von Software Robert Gehrings Berliner Ausweg aus dem Digitalen Dilemma BMWi-Presseerklärung nach der Konferenz PATOnline Sequential Innovation, Patents, and Imitation - MIT Department of Economics Working Paper by James Bessen and Eric Maskin European Trademark Office Europäisches Markenamt Urheberrechts-Dokumentation der Uni Saarbrücken Bolkenstein Speech on Community IP ORF-Gespräch mit Prof. Lawrence Lessig Lessig kritisiert Libertarismus der OS-Gemeinde Tod der Cyber-Innovation durch Software-Stalinismus Dilbert Comic: My Patent for No-Click Shopping was granted! HeiseNT: OpenSource-Videosoftware nur ohne Microsoft-Format 00-12-05: VirtualDub released, ASF support removed at request of Microsoft Avery Lee, author of VirtualDub reports the sad news: Today I received a polite phone call from a fellow at Microsoft who works in the Windows Media group. He informed me that Microsoft has intellectual property rights on the ASF format and told me that, although the implementation was still illegal since it infringed on Microsoft patents. I have asked for the specific patent numbers, since I find patenting a file format a bit strange. At his request, and much to my own sadness, I have removed support for ASF in VirtualDub 1.3d, since I cannot risk a legal confrontation. VirtualDub VirtualDub news Linux-Verband LiVe e.V. Slashdot: CNET Patents Banner Advertising Networks FFII als Aussteller auf dem Linuxtag 2000 LinuxTag Alan Cox ruft zum Kampf gegen Softwarepatente auf J.P. Smets: Practical Software Patent Tactics for OpenSource Developpers J.P. Smets: The Hidden Agenda of the European Commission OpenSource-Software durch Patente gefährdet Softwarepatente: Verbiegung des Rechts? Liste de Signatures de la Pétition des Étudiants de l'Université de Louvain Positions of DG 15 Computer & Recht Pétition Eurolinux pour une Europe sans brevets logiciels NoEPatents Statements A collection of statements from numerous European politicians, IT company managers and intellectuals in support of the Eurolinux position of not allowing software patents. Eurolinux Petition für ein softwarepatentfreies Europa Pétition Eurolinux pour une Europe sans brevets logiciels Eurolinux Underskriftindsamling imod misbrug af software-patenter Abaixo assinado: Por Uma Europa Livre de Patentes para Software Peticion para una Europa Libre de Patentes para Software Petizione per una Europa Senza Brevetti Software Dossier EuroLinux sur les brevets logiciels Dossier EuroLinux sur les brevets logiciels Eurolinux Letter Template Eurolinux Consultation on Patentability of Computer Programs On 2001-10-19 the European Commission's patent department announced a consultation on the question of software patentability in Europe. Little later, the Eurolinux Alliance of IT companies and non-profit associations calls on its members and friends to contribute papers to the consultation and, as a basis for the discussion, published a knowledge database containing references to important articles and studies on this subject. Approximately 1300 persons, mainly programmers and computer professionals but also scholars of various disciplines and normal citizens responded to the call and sent consultation submissions to the EC patent department via the gateway consultation@eurolinux.org. This gateway served to ensure that the results were published at least on the Eurolinux pages, in case the EC patent department could fail to publish them promptly. The WAP Patent Problem Communiqués de Presse liés a la Pétition pour une Europe sans Brevets Logiciels Presseerklärungen zur Petition für ein Softwarepatentfreies Europa Communiqués de Presse liés a la Pétition pour une Europe sans Brevets Logiciels Slashdot Search: Patents Tim O'Reilly Debates Patent Office Director 19 Patents Given To GPL Community GPL patent grant for 19 patents IBM PUBLIC LICENSE VERSION 1.0 - JIKES COMPILER bladeenc is having legal problems Slashdot: Bladeenc Under Patent Attack Analysis of the DVD case OpenDVD Crackers and Crackdowns Internet Patents: Giving Away the Store DIZ MedienPort - Die Themen der Woche Compétitivité des Entreprises Européennes en face de la globalisation -- Opinion du Committé des Régions Wettbewerbsfähigkeit europäischer Unternehmen im Angesicht der Globalisierung -- Stellungnahme des Ausschusses der Regionen Compétitivité des Entreprises Européennes en face de la globalisation -- Opinion du Committé des Régions Competitivitá étitivité des Entreprises Européennes en face de la globalisation -- Parere del Comitato delle regioni CdR Eagle Forum against rigid copyright plans Anarchism Triumphant: Free Software and the Death of Copyright Der Anarchismus triumphiert Workshop-Programm auf dem Linuxtag Informatikprofessor Clemens Cap warnt Ausschuss für Europäische Angelegenheiten Rechtsausschuss Ausschuss für Wirtschaft und Technologie Ausschuss für Bildung, Forschung und Technikfolgenabschätzung Unterausschuss "Neue Medien" Arbeit und Aufgaben des Unterausschusses "Neue Medien" MdB-Biographien der 14. Wahlperiode NSA Patents BGH-Urteil Sprachanalyse etc zu den neuesten BGH-Urteilen Intellectual Property Symposium of the Americas 2000 consequences of differences in the scope of copyright protection on an international scale Hal Varian: Information Rules Gegen staatliche und kommerzielle Netzkontrolle O-Reilly collection of Internet patents BT claims ownership of hyperlinks Software-patenter Der BMBF Patentserver EPC revision conference announcement EPO on business method patents FFII Mailinglists Archive FFII SWPAT-Diskussion FFII Nachrichten Nack: Obviously you have a lot of time Margareta Wolf auf Unternehmensgründer-Tagung Lettre ouverte sur les brevets logiciels Bundesgerichtshof BGH-Patentsenat Proposition de Base en vue de la Révision de la Convention sur le brevet européen Basisvorschlag für die Revision des Europäischen Patentübereinkommens Proposition de Base en vue de la Révision de la Convention sur le brevet européen FICPI Vancouver Resolutions FICPI: Beschlüsse von Vancouver FICPI: Resolutions de Vancouver Opinions on Grace Period EU-Gründungsvertrag / Vertrag von Amsterdam Proposition Finale Brevet Communautaire Proposition Finale Brevet Communautaire Enquete sur la Protection du Logiciel Enquete sur la Protection du Logiciel GI Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V. - Pressemitteilung Softwarepatentierung: Wissenschaftliche Leistung muss geschützt werden! International Patent Classification V 7 Amiga-Programmierer in Swpat-Panik FDP-Fraktion: Softwareschmieden nicht gefährden! Rapport Octrooiëring van Computersoftware Rapport Octrooiëring van Computersoftware Thomas Winischhofers Seite über Patente Report about Europarl Meeting Stimuler la concurrence et l'innovation dans la Société d'Information Interim Report by a research group at the Corps des Mines, an organisation of the French administration which is concerned with industrial policy and is continuing to study this subject. Available in French and English. In its initial chapters, the report gives a very reader-friendly introduction to the various means of investment protection available to software companies, introduces some example software patents and analyses their micro- and macro-economic effects. Chapter 4 analyses the legal situation, starting from the European Patent Convention and French court decisions of the 1970s, all of which rejected the patenting of methods of calculation embodied in software while showing some ambiguity in cases where this calculation was used for controlling industrial processes such as oil-drilling. The study procedes to show how the caselaw of the European Patent Office gradually drifted into a chaotic situation of questionable legal status. Chapter 5 proposes precise rules for determining what is technical which are based on doctrines of the 1970s but with further detail considerations taking into account the most avanguardist forms of programming and technology. The last chapter compares several political scenarios on how patentability could be limited using these rules while at the same time accomodating possible american pressures. Within this discussion, proposals for sui generis rights are also discussed. Stimulating Competition and Innovation in the Information Society Ewiges Logfile Justizministerin Herta DG fordert Moratorium Liikanen for OpenSource software in security relevant areas A Manifesto Concerning the Legal Protection of Computer Programs Finding a Balance: Computer Software, Intellectual Property and the Challenge of Technological Change United States Patent and Trademark Office, Public Hearing on Use of the Patent System to Protect Software-Related Inventions, Transcript of Proceedings, 1994 Diplomatische Konferenz zur Revision des Europäischen Patentübereinkommens Diplomatic Conference to revise the European Patent Convention Diplomatische Konferenz zur Revision des Europäischen Patentübereinkommens - Dokumente Bundesgerichtshof Bericht des IGE über die Diplomatische Konferenz Erzwingt Patentierbarkeitskrise eine neue Weltordnung? The Patent Office - Should Patents be Granted for Computer Software or Ways of Doing Business? Der Teufel steckt im Detail Bronwyn H. Hall, Rose Marie Ham -- The Patent Paradox Revisited: Determinants of Patenting in the US Semiconductor Industry, 1980-94 Upside opinion: Surviving a War With Patents Offizielle Dokumente (in Kraft getretene Gesetzestexte Prüfungsrichtlinien des Europäischen Patentamtes Règles d'Examen de l'Office Européen de Brevet Advogato: Patents In Europe EPO Trilateral Website B3B EPO Annual Report 1999 Basisvorschlag für die Revision des Europäischen Patentübereinkommens EPO: Patent Information on the Internet BMJ berichtigt Bericht über Gespräch mit Däubler-Gmelin Fragen an das BMJ Julian Stacey: patent vampires exploiting and degrading the software industry Rosset: Convenzione Europea de Brevetti, FFII The Register: European Software Patent Horror Gallery Microsoft honous Linux programmer with patent gong Andreas Heer: Schranken setzen Andreas Heer: Bericht zur Dipl. Konferenz entretien avec RMS sur les brevets Ein Patent gegen Patente Bundesjustizministerin gegen Swpat U.M.S.: Petition gegen Softwarepatente FTD - 101 Köpfe: Wolfgang Tauchert Brevets Logiciels - La Commission lance une Consultation Software-Patente - Kommission leitet Sondierung ein Brevets Logiciels - La Commission lance une Consultation IPI Study: The Economic Impact of Patentability of Computer Programs IPI Study: The Economic Impact of Patentability of Computer Programs Replies to the EC swpat consultation Replies to the EC swpat consultation Replies to the EC swpat consultation Online Forum on the Patentability of Computer-Implementable Rules of Organisation and Calculation index page for the consultations area on the UK Patent Office website Responses to the British Patent Office's Consultation on Patentability of Computer Programs En 2001-10-19 l'Unité de Propriété Industrielle (UPI) de la Commission Européenne annonçait une Consultation sur la brevetabilité du logiciel. Un peu plus tard l'Office Britannique du Brevet lançait une consultation similaire au nom du gouvernment du Royaume Uni. Cette consultation se basait sur une série de questions qui, différrement des questions de la CE/UPI, addressaient non seulement des experts en brevet mais, au moins en partie, aussi des experts du logiciel. Aussi ils n'étaient pas étroitement liés au point de vue de l'Office Européen du Brevet (OEB) mais prenaient aussi en considération les droit brittanique, qui connaissait ni un concepte systématique de l'invention technique ni une déviation dramatique de ce concepte comme on l'avait observé chez l'OEB. Donc les Anglais étaient en position de conduire une consultation plus objective et intéressant, et en lisant leur site vous trouverez qu'ils ont fait un beau travail. TheRegister EuroParl meeting report Heise News-Ticker: Gesetzesinitiative gegen Internet-Patente in den USA mp3licensing.com - Home mp3licensing.com - Patent Portfolio FAQ: MPEG, Patents, and Audio Coding LAME = LAME Ain't an MP3 Encoder Links to patent and other intellectual property information resources Against Intellectual Property Kritik an GI-Mayr Spiegel zu GI-Mayr Rücktritt von GI-Mayr gefordert Die Welt: Patente blockieren Fortschritt Tauss warnt vor Schäden durch Softwarepatentierung Spiegel: Software-Patente - Fesseln für die Open Source? Union for the Public Domain Business Practice Patents Kurzgutachten Softwarepatente von Lutterbeck, Horns und Gehring für BMWi Erich Bierampel: Kritik Lutterbeck-Studie Report on Software Patents by Joaquin Seoane (professor of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) and Ramon Garcia Fernandez Réponse de l'Isoc-France à la Consultation sur la Brevetabilité du Logiciel de la Direction Générale du Marché Intérieur de la Commission Européenne British Computer Society Software Protection Specialist Group Summaries of articles on software patents The Expansion of the Patent System: Politics and Political Economy Memory Technology Device (MTD) Subsystem for Linux Response from M-Systems on Patent issues BT Patent als E-Business-Killer? British Telecom accuses ISPs of patent infringement BT sues Prodigy BT goes to law over hyperlink patent BT pushes hyperlink patent BT launches US hyperlinks legal action Prodigy to fight BT's shameless hyperlinks patent lawsuit British Telecom Taking Prodigy To Court Over Hyperlinks BT sues Prodigy over US hyperlink patent Techsearch attacks Aharonian on Rozmanith patent Patent als Waffe gegen Kritiker The Free Protocols Foundation article LeMatin sur les danger de la brevetabilité du logiciel IP caught in the web Poynder (Derwent): Patents and the Web: Friends of Foes SYNOPSIS OF Caught in a Web, Intellectual Property in Cyberspace Drummond Reed, Chief Technology Officer, OneName Inc., talks to Richard Poynder Dai Rees, Director, Directorate 2.2.01, European Patent Office, talks to Richard Poynder Fritz Machlup: Die wirtschaftlichen Grundlagen des Patentrechts Fritz Machlup 1958: The economic foundations of patent law Fritz Andres: Vorwort zu Machlup Fritz Andres: Nachwort zu Machlup Vortragsprogramm des SFFO Intervista Rosset con phm Digital Signature Standard -- We can do better The Crypto Patent Challenge Public Key Patent Cases -- Roger Shlafly on his successful defense against infringement charges by RSADSI Shlafly's opposition to counter-motion: 'Signal' is not a magic word RMS on crypto patent questions Prof. Dr. C.P. Schnorr's Generic Home Page The Great Patent Giveaway A Model Software Petite Patent Act Bricklin: Patents and Software Dr. Mayer: Moratorium statt Ausweitung der Software-Patente Dr. Mayer: Moratorium instead of Extension of Software Patents Richard Stallman: Saving Europe from Software Patents Yahoo 2000-11-13: AltaVista Wins Patents for Search Technology; Portfolio of 38 Patents Important in Extending Search Leadership Altavista patent attacks announced in Internet World VOSN en Software Patenten Fraunhofer Institut für Telematik Fraunhofer Telematics Institute Fraunhofer Institut für Telematik brüstet sich mit seinem Trivialpatent Fraunhofer Institute for Telematics brags with its trivial patent BGH Beschluss "Sprachanalyse" 2000-05-11 X ZB 15/98 BPatG Bechluss "Sprachanalyse" 1998-05-07 17 W(pat) 55/96 Intellectual Property Initiative Intellectual Property Initiative 2000 A large british research project which concludes that the patent system as it stands in the year 2000 is in general less than helpful an instrument for fostering research and development in small and medium enterprises. Looking at Angels Brokat Press Release: Brokat Granted Patent for Mobile Digital Signature Presseerklärung von Brokat: Brokat erhält Patent für mobile digitale Signatur United Kingdom Patent Office consultation on the question as to whether or not patents should be granted for computer software or ways of doing business http://www.patent.gov.uk/about/ippd/consultation/conclusions.htm Should Patents be Granted for Computer Software or Ways of Doing Business? patents discussion at aful.org Paul B. Laat: Patenting mathemtical algorithms: What's the harm? A thought experiment in algebra ISI Projektbeschreibung Softwarepatente ISI-Untersuchung über den Zustand der Softwarebranche Heise News-Ticker: Software-Entwicklung: Kampf den Altlasten Heise News-Ticker: Blinder Fleck Open Source: Software-Studie unter Beschuss IPR Helpdesk on Software Patents Parlament Européen 1998-11-19: Resolution sur le Livre Vert Europa-Parlament 1998-11-19: Entschließung zum Grünbuch Parlament Européen 1998-11-19: Resolution sur le Livre Vert Software-Offensive Bayern: Softwarepatente Einreichung einer Petition - Hilfe Kanzlei Betten & Resch About Betten & Resch CZ 2001-05-03: Justizministerin vehement gegen Swpat future convention de la hague sur la compétence juridictionelle internationale et les effets des jugements en matière civile et commerciale future hague convention on international jurisdiction and the effects of judgments in civil and commercial matters Microsoft patent on distributed file systems 1999 LPF: Against Software Patents LPF: Software Patents are Legally Questionnable In its whitepaper 'Against Software Patents', the League for Programming Freedom devotes a chapter to the question of legality of software patents under the American legal system. Although in the USA there was never a clear legal provision against patenting computer programs, in the USA as in other countries there has been customary law that the patent system is limited to a sphere of inventions that disclose some new way of 'transforming matter', and until the 70s there has been a consensus of not allowing software to be patented, because it did not contribute anything new to the transforming of matter. Moreover, some of the caselaw that paved the way for voiding this limit in the 80s was misinterpreted by the concerned authorities. Thus in fact a minority of patent lawyers illicitely broke a basic consensus within the american legal system. Juristische Stellungnahmen von Prof. Dr. iur Karl-Friedrich Lenz Patentrecht-Seminar Prof Straus SS 2001 In diesem Seminar geht Prof. Straus auf die Patentkritik aus der Softwarebranche ein, reduziert sie jedoch sogleich auf die "Open-Source-Bewegung" und stellt dem Referenten die Aufgabe, "vor allem die volkswirtschaftlichen Argumente der OSS-Softwareentwickler kritisch zu hinterfragen". Strausens eigenen "volkswirtschaftlichen Argumente" eignen sich indes gut, um unter Volkswirten Heiterkeit auszulösen: Da im System des freien Welthandels Produkte vielerorts billiger hergestellt werden können als in den hochentwickelten Ländern, hängt der wirtschaftliche Erfolg europäischer Unternehmen in zunehmendem Maße davon ab, ob es ihnen gelingt, durch Innovationen Wettbewerbsvorteile zu erlangen. Dieser Anreiz zu Innovationen kann jedoch nur bestehen, wenn ein rechtlicher Schutz der Erfindungen sichergestellt ist. Sind die Erfindungen rechtlich geschützt, können sie als "intellectual property" einen Hauptteil des Unternehmensvermögens darstellen. Der Bedarf an Juristen, Naturwissenschaftlern und Ingenieuren, die Kenntnisse im Patentrecht haben, steigt dieser Entwicklung entsprechend. Bekanntlich verwenden hiesige Unternehmen besonders gerne Patente, um ihre Produktion weitgehend auszulagern, ihre Arbeitsplätze zu exportieren, und zugleich, wie Prof. Straus richtig andeutet, durch immaterielle Vermögensgegenstände sich ungeahnte Freiräume bei der Bilanzgestaltung und Steuermeidung zu schaffen. Innovation, wie sie heute von Patenten "geschützt" wird, ist größtenteils alltägliche Routine, und dass Patente als Investitionsanreize entscheidendes beitrügen oder gar notwendig seien, wird seit 100 Jahren von allen ernsten Wirtschaftswissenschaftlern bestritten. AIPPI report on the Diplomatic Conference of the European Patent Organisation of 2000-11 by Ralph Nack Noam Chomsky on Microsoft and the rise of private tyrannies since Madison Avis de l'académie des technologies concernant la Brevetabilité des inventions mises en oeuvre par ordinateur http://severino.free.fr/archives/texteslocaux/michelvivantnouveauparadigme.html Umfrage: Was bringen Swpat Ihrem Unternehmen? EPO Press Release: We will no longer conduct novelty searches for innovations that use conventional technology to implement what is essentially a method for doing business not patentable under Art 52 EPC Reponses aux Questions Fréquentes sur les Brevets Logiciels une FAQ française détaillée sur les question de la brevetabilité du logiciel, écrite en printemps de 2000 par Jean-Paul Smets Wasmeier, Josefsson et al: Software Patent FAQ draft Michael Wasmeier, Erik Josefsson and others just started to work on a collaborative Software Patents FAQ using the Zope Content Managment Framework Claus Dendorfer 1998: Patente und der Schutz softwarebezogener Erfindungen A German patent attorney explains to his customers that it is fairly easy and worthwhile to obtain patents with broad claims to trivial software ideas in Germany: One of the reasons for this triviality is the approach of patent offices to "non-obviousness" which is implies that anything that goes beyond the cognitive capabilities of a standardised uncreative search robot is not obvious. Therefore it is especially easy to obtain broad patents in new areas of programming where little has been documented so far. Traditionally, software applications were frequently rejected due to lack of technical character, but recent court decisions have changed this. Since patents can significantly contribute to the value of a company, an investment in the systematic acquisition of patents can easily become worthwhile for a software company. http://joelonsoftware.com/ Chicken and Egg Problems -- Compatibility Big Macs vs The Naked Chef -- Scalability Converting Capital into Software that Works CSU-Huber fordert Entzug der Ausstrahlungslizenz für Internet-Pornografie EFF Europe founding discussions Communiqué de Presse OEB sur la Conférence Diplomatique EPO Presseerklärung über die Diplomatische Konferenz Communiqué de Presse OEB sur la Conférence Diplomatique Communiqué de Presse de l'OEB 2001-10-05: Changement des les nouvelles Règles d'Examen concernant la brevetabilité des méthodes de gestion et des inventions liées aux ordinateurs L'OEB annonce qu'il a changé ses règle d'examen en les adaptant a la décision T 1173/97, laquelle déclare que les revendication de "produits programme d'ordinateur" et programme d'ordinateurs sont admissible. EPA Presseerklärung 2001-10-05: Änderung der Prüfungsrichtlinien im HInblick auf die Patentierbarkeit von Geschäftsverfahren und computer-bezogenen Erfindungen Communiqué de Presse de l'OEB 2001-10-05: Changement des les nouvelles Règles d'Examen concernant la brevetabilité des méthodes de gestion et des inventions liées aux ordinateurs Karin Kosina: Softwarepatente in Europa peut-être la seul simple FAQ en langue allemande qui introduit au sujêt des brevets logiciels en Europe. manque d'information sur le concepte de invention technique impliqué en art 52 CEB. US National Academies: Intellectual Property Rights in a Knowledge-Based Economy projets américains actuels Rechtsanwälte Strömer: Gesetzessammlung Online-Recht Softwarepatente: Untersuchung einiger Fallbeispiele Fraunhofer-Seite zu MP3-Forschungen Prof Reiss, WiWi Uni Paderborn: Ausschreibung Diplomarbeit Swpat-Ökonomie ABUL: Brevets Logiciels Syntec Informatique: Position sur les Brevets Logiciels IBM toilet reservation patent Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology Maastricht University Portal on Information Economy and Intellectual Property This site exhibits a collection of study reports, several written in 2001, under titles such as "Intellectual Property Rights in a Knowledge Based Economies" about the impact of patents, copyright and other exclusion rights on the production of information. All these reports express concern that these rights may on the whole have been on the whole doing more harm than good, and software patents are cited as extreme examples. These reports are part of a larger endeavor of research about the economics of information, involving the Maastricht Economic Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT), which has since the 1980s gradually become a European center for studies in this field. ??triviales patent, hinweis von Marko Schuetz?? Aigrain 2002: 11 questions on software patentability issues in the US and Europe a paper representing the private views of Philippe Aigrain, head of a department in the Infosoc Directorate of the European Commission. Asks some questions which the patent movement probably doesn't like. In some cases the the answer is almost evident once the taboo-breaking question is asked, in other cases the answer requires some research that is yet waiting to be done. The paper was prepared for a conference on open software and information policy research hosted by the US National Science Foundation in Arlington near Washington. H. Pilch from FFII is also attending. Erklärung Bulmahn zum Hochschulpatentgesetz site pro-brevet-logiciel du lobby intra-ministeriel francais Rapport du groupe de travail interministériel "Quelles protections pour les logiciels" 13 juillet 2001 interview transfert interview transfert Parti Socialiste contre Brevets Logiciels et Pratique OEB Danish University Patent Act of 1999 danish counterpart of the Bayh-Dole Act and of the German university patent laws of 2002/02 Patentrezepte von Bulmahn AlterNet -- PAPER CUTS: The Golden Fleece profile of prof. Ziedonis university patent legislation watchpage Bayh-Dole Act the full source text CPTech.org page on the Bayh-Dole Act Peter Gosselin: Patents: Bayh-Dole Act and DNA sequencer patent politicians from Cornell University on the merits of the Bayh-Dole Act COGR on the Bayh-Dole Act apparently written by people at a universitarian patent administration agency of the University of Columbia, reports very positively about the effects, fairly informative Phaidros AG: Standpunkt zu Softwarepatenten Techlawjournal: details about the BT-Prodigy procedings SmartBusinessMagazine: The Patent King - IBM Corp. WIPO Conference on E-Commerce and IP, Geneva 2001-09-19..21 WIPO Patentagenda Conference Geneva 2002-03-25..7 Guardian 2002-03-12: Patent Nonsense Guardian 2002-03-12: Patent Nonsense Rapport Monbiot sur l'industrialisation sans brevets. Cite l'historien industriel Eric Schiff pour montrer que les pays qui introduisaient le système de brevets plus tard que les autres, comme la Suisse ou l'Hollande, ont grace a cela succédé a créer des entreprises plus puissantes et innovantes, et que la décisions pour le système de brevets était le résulat de pressions politiques plutôt que considérations macro-économiques. Patentlobby mobilisiert IHKs IHKs als idealer Partner der Patentbewegung? Bitkom trommelt für DRM Lenz 2002-02-24: Weltweite Entwicklung von Patentlizenzeinnahmen Lenz 2002-03-08: Inflationsrate knapp 26 Prozent WIPO on expansion of PCT applications Bundesregierung 2002-03-10: Deutscher Softwaremarkt ist gesund US-Patentanwälte stolz auf gute Beziehungen zur Eur Kommission Amazon und B&N legen jahrelangen Rechtsstreit bei DE-PTO 2002-03-12: Patent Record - Positive Signal Growth of application numbers at the German Patent and Trademark Office (DE-PTO = DPMA) by 15%, recession in applications at the "New Market". All this of course reflects Germany's buoyant innovation rather than a trend of patent inflation. As a side note, the DPMA's chief ideologue for technicity questions, Wolfgang Tauchert, is quoted announcing that the DPMA will follow the Federal Court (BGH) in its recent decision (Character Search 2001) to legalise patent claims to computer programs. The DPMA apparently chooses to ignore the latest directive proposal from Brussels, according to which program claims should not be allowed. Heise-Artikel zum DPMA-Rekord Lebenslauf von Präsident Schade und Vizepräsident Hammer Bulmahn 2002-03-12 zu Wissenschaftlern: Go Market! Bulmahn 2002-03-13 zu Wissenschftlern: Go Market! Ballmer kündigt Einsatz Patenten zur Verhinderung freier DotNet-Implementationen an Steve Ballmer 2002-03-12: Kein Tänzchen an der Leine Microsoft menace d'utiliser ses brevets pour l'exclure le logiciel libre de l'utilisation des standards de fait. A l'occasion de l'ouverture de la foire CeBIT a Hannover, Steve Ballmer, PDG de Micro§oft, donne un discours a coté du chancellier Schröder. Selon un article de Heise, dans ce contexte il dit le suivant, traduit de l'Allemand: Sur l'ouverture de l'architecture .NET, Ballmer a annoncé qu'une Implémentation Common Language Runtime serait à coup sûr faite pour Unix, limitant pourtant ce développement comme Subset "seulement pensé pour la mise en oeuvre académique". Concernant les réflexions sur un portage libre des implémentations .NET comme Mono, Ballmer renvoit un refus: "Nous avons investi tant de millions dans .NET, nous avons tant de brevets sur .NET dont nous voulons nous occuper [NdTentendre ici faire fructifier]" Linux-Magazin: Keiner will den schwarzen Peter PA Pfeiffer: Schwachsinn, EPA-TBK sind unabhängig. weist auf Art 22 EPÜ hin, in dem dies steht, s. auch folgende Diskussion PA Springorum: BVerfG hat entschieden: EPA-TBK sind echte Gerichte im Sinne des GG Prof. Lenz: Pilchs Irrtum PA Pfeiffer: Lenz muss von Pilch hypnotisiert worden sein BVerfG 2001-04-04: EPA-Beschwerdekammern für Entscheidung über Zulassung von Vertretern am EPA hinreichend befugt statistiques de brevets internet IBM 1990: patents give us access to key innovations of competitors Think Magazine 1990 #5 contains an article which quotes a spokesman from IBM explaining how IBM can use patents to access key innovations of competitors. "You get value from patents in two ways," says Roger Smith, IBM Assistant General Counsel, intellectual property law. "Through fees, and through licensing negotiations that give IBM access to other patents. The IBM patent portfolio gains us the freedom to do what we need to do through cross-licensing--it gives us access to the inventions of others that are the key to rapid innovation. Access is far more valuable to IBM than the fees it receives from its 9,000 active patents. There's no direct calculation of this value, but it's many times larger than the fee income, perhaps an order of magnitude larger." Economic Effects of the Australian Patent System: A Commissioned Report to the Industrial Property Advisory Committee This report, submitted in 1982, contains statistics about the use of the patent system as a source of information and as a source of revenues. Its general reasoning and conclusions are similar to those of most economists, especially Fritz Machlup. Some quotations: Since the benefits of the patent system are so tenuous and subtle and the overall benefit/cost ratio is considered to be negative, there is no economic justification for extending patent monopolies by lengthening the term, or by widening the grounds for either infringement, or patentability (for example, plant variety rights or computer programs). However, in the light of our findings, there is considerable economic justification for policy action to reduce the negative effects of the patent system by stricter examination, by reducing the length of term and the scope of patent monopolies, and by action to deal with undesirable restrictive practices in patent licensing. An historical awareness of the political economy of patent reform suggests that this task is not easy at the domestic policy level. This is basically because those who perceive they would lose by such reform are concentrated, powerful and active defenders of their interests. In contrast, those who would gain by patent reform are diffuse and hardly aware of their interest in the matter. GNU Free Documentation License OR Magazine License Tous les Candidats Présidentiels contre les Brevets Logiciels Les candidats de tous les partis politiques français s'ont prononcé contre le brevet logiciel et citent des idées politiques assez divergentes pour expliquer que l'extension du brevet au logiciel est une mauvaise idée. MS CIFS License Agreement 2002/03/28