"119. The Representative of FFII noted that one of its main objectives was to fight software patents. While the European Parliament had given a strong signal in 2005 by rejecting the software patent directive proposal with an overwhelming majority, software patents were still being granted on a massive scale in Europe. He considered that it was a priority for the SCP to address software patentability in the framework of "subject matter exclusions", since new rules for software patents were being developed both by the EPO and by the courts in the United States of America, among others. The Representative observed that the economic benefit of software patents was very controversial, as economists had found that increased software patenting actually coincided with decreased R&D activity, a strong example of the well-known "patent paradox". He noted that even software patent proponents were worried about the legal uncertainty caused by complicated and inconsistent rules, which caused excessive transaction costs due to litigation and litigation prevention, and SMEs in the software realm could not afford the tremendous administrative burden of patents. In sum, the Representative believed that the exceptions in Article 52 EPC, Section 101 of the US Patent Act and associated case law needed due attention of the SCP and that the issue, which was not even on the non-exhaustive list of 18 issues agreed last year by the SCP, required priority."
Source: http://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/scp/en/scp_13/scp_13_8_prov.pdf
