Europese ministers akkoord over software-patenten, Europees Parlement nu aan zet (en)

EU ministers on Monday (7 March) backed a controversial proposal for a law on software patents.

The decision to move on with the bill was taken despite objections from a number of national parliaments and a unanimous call from leaders of all political groups in the European Parliament to withdraw the draft.

Big European companies like Nokia, Ericsson, Siemens, Philips and Alcatel have warned that billions in research and development spending would be wasted if they were denied access to patent protection.

However, small business and the NoSoftwarePatents (NSP) campaign say patents turn software publishing into the privilege of a few: "Copyright is free, so you don't need patent offices and lawyers to obtain it".

Blocked for procedural reasons

Poland, the Netherlands, Hungary, Latvia, Denmark and Cyprus expressed doubts about the wording of the proposed text at Monday's Competitiveness Council in Brussels.

The Spanish, Danish, Dutch, and German parliaments have all demanded changes to the text.

They are concerned that the new directive will move Europe towards the US model of giving patents for Internet business models such as online bookseller Amazon's one-click shopping technique.

The directive was previously agreed upon on 18 May 2004. A number of member states however asked at Monday's meeting for the draft to be classed as a 'B' item on the agenda, which would pave the way for new discussions of the bill.

However, the current presidency - Luxembourg - maintained that this would not be possible because of procedural reasons.

The Luxembourg presidency claimed that the European Parliament, which opposes the draft, will now be able to argue its case when the item goes to a second reading.

The European Parliament now has three months to reject or amend the proposal.

Big and small business divided

European big industry welcomed the Council's decision.

"As an industry we will strengthen our efforts to show that patents are good for innovation, good for the economies of Europe and good for consumers", said Mark MacGann, Director General of EICTA, which represents the high-tech industry.

"We now look forward to engaging in the second reading debate with the European Parliament and the Council", he added.

However, UEAPME, the European association for small and medium business and crafts, expressed disappointment at the decision of the Competitiveness Council.

"The small and medium sized business is concerned that the directive would reinforce monopolisation in the software sector and act as a barrier to innovation", said the group in a press release and stressed that these products are already successfully covered by the copyrighting system.