Story index
  • 1220445227|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — EDPS confirms the possibility of a 'Soviet Internet': EDPS, the European Data Protection Supervisor, points out in its analysis of the Harbour report that amendment 81 gives the possibility of a 'Soviet Internet', where National Regulatory Authorities could impose technological mandates, such as mandatory TPM chips to connect to the internet. (Comments: 0)
  • 1219943997|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — World Day Against Software Patents (24 Sep 2008): You want to get your software association, software company, software consultancy, software project involved in the 24 September World Day Against Software Patents and are able to speak in the name of your organisation? Please give us your contact data below. Your organisation gets the opportunity to be listed as a supporter for the announcement of the World Day Against Software Patents. (Comments: 1)
  • 1218830465|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Subprime Patents: Many patents work in the same way that subprime mortgages and all its derivatives. They create false assets and so false economies that finally develop in important economical crisis. But in the case of patents it is worse indeed, because every patent is potentially a monopoly and a block to the free market. (Comments: 0)
  • 1218210952|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Software patents on the way to be legalised in India: A comment on a blog tell us that software patents are on a way to be legalised in India. Microsoft, Infosys, Symantec and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) (nice name :-)) were pushing for software patents at a recent meeting at the Indian Patent Office in Mumbai. RedHat was "shot down" at the meeting. (Comments: 1)
  • 1216275169|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Patent trolls start on the open source sector: Why go to the effort of developing new software when you can use patents to extort other companies? A story about FireStar Software, which has not updated its software since 2003, preferring to rely on lawyers rather than programmers, to assure its income... (Comments: 0)
  • 1215196653|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — European Parliament rushes towards Soviet Internet: Brussels, 04 July 2008 — Amendments to the European Telecommunications directive being rushed through the European Parliament propose a "Soviet internet" where software publishers and internet service providers watch traffic and data for Hollywood. Software and services that run on the internet would have to ask for permission of the regulators. (Comments: 0)
  • 1215162459|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Spanish MEP paints the EPO as the legislator: The EPO Gazette reports that some MEPs members of the Legal Affairs committee visited the EPO in early June. Questions were raised on the democratic control of the Office, and how the Alicante model of the OHIM could also apply to the EPO. One MEP mentioned that the EPO is also taking political decisions. (Comments: 0)
  • 1214839613|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Get your patent licence at Microsoft: If you don't trust the OSP (Open Specification Promise), ask for a patent licence at Microsoft. "If you would prefer a written license, or if the formats are not covered by the OSP, patent licenses are available by contacting iplg@microsoft.com" they say on their website. (Comments: 0)
  • 1213008268|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Belgium on the way to scrap patents in Flemish?: The council of ministers in Belgium has decided last 23rd of May to proceed with the ratification of the London Agreement, in order to scrap the requirement for translations of patents granted in Belgium in Flemish. (Comments: 0)
  • 1212398723|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Ars: OOXML revolt brewing? Three countries appeal ISO approval: India, Brazil, and South Africa are attempting to appeal ISO's fast-track approval of Microsoft's controversial Office Open XML (OOXML) format. The organizations representing those countries in ISO complain of process irregularities, lack of inclusiveness during meetings and debates, and insufficient time to address all of the issues and concerns raised by participants during the review process. (Comments: 0)
  • 1211563104|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Europe By Satellite only for certain people: In order to find out what your members of European Parliament are doing, you need some special software. Europe by Satellite (EBS) is only for those people who have the right software. (Comments: 1)
  • 1211555993|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Jonathan Zuck replies on the need to mandate Open Standards: Jonathan Zuck, President of the Association for Competitive Technology, a lobbying association in which Microsoft is a member, is replying to the demand to have open standards, especially for the video streaming of the European Parliamentary sessions. (Comments: 0)
  • 1211221498|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — EUPACO-3: EU vs EPO and Patent Litigation (3rd June, Brussels): EUPACO-3 is the next conference in our series to provide insights into the future of the European patent system. The format of the conference will be different from previous editions, as it allows stronger interaction with the audience and possibility of taking the floor. General topics for further discussions: - Community Patent: EU in the EPO, or EPO in the EU? - Patent Litigation in Europe: on the road to Texas? (Comments: 0)
  • 1210701900|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — FFII: McCreevy wants to legalise Software Patents via a US-EU patent treaty: Brussels, 13 May 2008 -- European Commissioner McCreevy is pushing for a bilateral patent treaty with the United States. This Tuesday 13 May in Brussels, White House and European representatives will try to adopt a tight roadmap for the signature of a EU-US patent treaty by the end of the year. Parts of the proposed treaty will contain provision on software patents, and could legalise them on both sides of the Atlantic. (Comments: 5)
  • 1210378771|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Tauchert 2000: good old times: In 2000 Tauchert spoke open about the commercial benefit of the patent system for patent examiners and the lack of need for economic analysis. (Comments: 0)
  • 1208917736|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — El Khadraoui (PSE) on rights waivers: We now have the situation that a lot of content owners waive their rights and certain services depend on free content because of restrictive licensing conditions of collective societies. MEP El Khadraoui asks the council. (Comments: 1)
  • 1208626085|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Reasonable and not non-discriminatory: Is it reasonable for a convicted monopolist to discriminate against its competitors by using exclusive rights that should not be granted in the first place? (Comments: 0)
  • 1206616225|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — When the USPTO was rejecting software patents: The examination guidelines of the US patent office in 1968 were mandating examiners to reject software patents. The law is still the same, but the USPTO practice changed with the CAFC decisions. (Comments: 0)
  • 1206541778|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Even with 'patent reform', the trolls are not going away: IAM has published a recent article titled "Meet the middlemen" over what they call new business models for making money out of IP. Patent trolls might be a simpler term. The article concludes that the ongoing reform in the US is not gonna change anything. (Comments: 1)
  • 1205768076|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — South African Government speaks on Software Patents: Today in Senegal, the South African Minister of Public Service Administration, Geraldine Frasier-Moleketi, delivered the following powerful speech to the FOSSFA conference, discussing open standards and software patents. (Comments: 0)
  • 1205166998|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Kuneva answers on tied selling: It is almost impossible to buy a laptop without Microsoft Windows pre-installed, and it is almost impossible to buy an Apple iPhone without a subscription to a particular phone provider. (Comments: 1)
  • 1204713311|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — EPO Gazette: talking about trust: How is dissatisfaction voiced in a technocratic organizations where staff is obliged to shut up? The latest EPO Gazette is a wonderful example. (Comments: 0)
  • 1203206457|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Europe to send downloaders in jail without any public attention?: The criminal sanctions directive might send internet downloaders in jail. The directive has passed the European Parliament in the complete ignorance of the majority of internet users. The rapporteur finally admits that this directive is all about sending filesharers to jail. (Comments: 0)
  • 1202233461|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — European Commission to exclude Open Source developers with patented standards?: The European Commission is organizing next week in Brussels a conference on "European ICT standardisation policy at a crossroads: A new direction for global success". Among the papers in discussion for this conference, one paper suggests to allow RAND standards as general policy. The European Commission seems to listen to the big industry who contributed to the discussion paper. RAND standards (such as h264 or MPEG2) are a way to exclude FLOSS developers, because they require royalty payments that developers cannot afford. (Comments: 1)
  • 1201823678|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Why Microsoft likes Linux and "Open Source" now: For the past six years, Microsoft has evolved it’s thinking about open source software. Who would have thought six years ago that Microsoft would support Linux through a patent program with Novell? (Comments: 0)
  • 1201521825|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Two questions on the status of the data retention directive: MEPs Cappato and Alvaro, both from the ALDE group, have asked questions about the status of implementation of the Data retention directive. They are mentioning the 'exception related to the Internet', as well as the creation of a Platform for Electronic Data Retention. (Comments: 1)
  • 1200926646|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Follow the debate in Parliament with Windows Media Player only: Today, the frontpage of the European Parliament was advertising live broadcast on the internet of the "Google - Doubleclick merger" discussed by MEPs in the Civil Liberties Committee. Hopefully, the internet is only for people who paid the Microsoft tax, the stream is advertised as being for Windows Media Player only. The internet is only for Microsoft pre-installed customers. (Comments: 0)
  • 1200530055|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Software patents prevent Fedora to include some games: Tom Callaway, long time packager for Redhat, is warning that the company cannot include some games in the distribution because of software patents. A patent seems to cover a game where "targets" move across the screen to a predetermined point or line, where the player hits a button/key/mouse click as the target(s) crosses that point or line, and gets points. (Comments: 2)
  • 1200484215|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — "We cut your internet connection if you download" says MEP Heaton-Harris: A report on "Cultural Industries" will be adopted next Tuesday in the European Parliament (CULT committee) which is requesting the suspension of internet connections for those who download, together with mandatory internet filtering measures for ISPs all over Europe. The amendment is proposed by british MEP Christopher Heaton-Harris. Some other amendments also covers "P2P website designers". It might be a good idea to contact MEPs members of CULT and ask them to reject this intrusive proposal. (Comments: 8)
  • 1200183579|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — European open source software companies creates OBOOE: Representatives of the European open source software industries gathered in Berlin 10th of January 2008 to found a network of European Open Source SMEs. The purpose of the network is to create a voice for the thousands of SMEs which are a currently under-represented industry and a vital part of the European economy. (Comments: 1)
  • 1199577730|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — MEP Doyle wants McCreevy to stay on his taxploitation course: Avril Doyle wonders why McCreevy said that "tax harmonisation is not on the agenda" and "would undermine competition". As an Irish Finance minister McCreevy benefited his nation and American IT corporations through ruininous tax competition and patent taxation dumping. Doyle wants the Irish taxploitation to stay. (Comments: 4)
  • 1197985637|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Can the EPO correct its software patent propaganda?: The EPO has a page on its website about "Computer-Implemented Inventions (CII)" where they answer the question "Why are such programs not patentable in Europe?". Unfortunately, the answer does not reflect the law, but the EPO interpretation of the law. (Comments: 0)
  • 1197633348|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — ECIS supporting RAND standards as open standards?: ECIS has published some comments to the "final EU Study on the specific policy needs for ICT standardisation". Here is what they say: "Members of ECIS stress that an open standard has the following characteristics: [...] • Available royalty-free or on a FRAND basis that does not discriminate against the open source software development or licensing model. (The level of royalties is highly dependent on the specific policy context and ECIS refers to its response to recommendaton 10, regarding lack of guidance on what FRAND should be taken to mean in terms of appropriate levels of royalty. ECIS additionally wishes to point out that there is significant use of royalty-free IPR licensing in software standardization.)" (Comments: 1)
  • 1197552924|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — NmsCommunications: 19th century solution to 21st century patent problems?: Prof. Magliocca compares 19th century problems with "patent sharks" to today's problems with "patent trolls" and suggests the only politically acceptable path out of today's problems may be the path taken out of the 19th century problems, i.e. elimination of the class of patents that triggered the problems. He provides tons of interesting context, but here's one of his proposals: "If the historical parallel between sharks and trolls rings true, then the obvious implication is that repeal is the only real answer to the troll problem. This is does not mean that we should wipe out all technology patents. A more discriminating approach would focus on the most problematic of these patents, which deal with software and business methods. Critics of the recent expansion of patent subject matter into these areas might describe this “experiment” as a disaster on a par with the design patent fiasco of the 1860s." (Comments: 0)
  • 1197390107|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — The EPO is already lobbying the Slovenian Presidency for EU-EPLA: The EPO will held its next European Patent Forum and European Inventor of the Year 2008 in Ljubljana. The event will be co-organised by the European Patent Office, the government of Slovenia, the Slovenian Intellectual Property Office and the European Commission. Slovenia will hold the EU Council Presidency in the first half of 2008. The EPO is already lobbying the Slovenian Presidency to get a central court to validate software patents. (Comments: 3)
  • 1197373789|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Amazon patent fully revoked: skirmish victory for FFII: EPO rules for full revocation after a hearing in the opposition of the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII e.V.) against Amazon.com's infamous patent on the online purchase of gifts. The patent EP927945 is a descendant of the controversial One-Click Patent, which was granted to Amazon in the USA but was partially revoked there due to lack of novelty in October 2007. (Comments: 0)
  • 1197292493|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Pee R is dying: Public Relations is an entertaining art of painting with phrase clusters, but that art is dying out and invites new craftsmen to take advantage. (Comments: 0)
  • 1196346481|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — One Patent Per Child: Respect4IP: The One Laptop Per Child project is being sued for patent infringement over some keyboard function which allows to switch from one language to another. But the project claims that all patents used in the laptops are either owned by OLPC or properly licenced. (Comments: 1)
  • 1195581495|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — New EU antitrust investigation against Microsoft: EU Commission starts working on second antitrust case against Microsoft, for abuse of its dominant position to exclude competitors from office document interoperability, the email and calendar market, and to capture the web application market. (Comments: 0)
  • 1195163585|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — How the French turned exclusive privilege into property: Exclusive privileges - patents - are a natural right, a reward for innovation, an incentive to invent, an incentive to disclose. Do these arguments sound familiar? They should: they are the arguments used by every patent advocate when they explain to us why we need, for our own sake, patents on software. What few people know is that these arguments date to the mid-19th century, when economists fought with patent advocates over the establishment of a patent system, and lost. (Comments: 0)
  • 1194865425|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — World Cup of CII: There is still heavy internal discussions going on whether to use the C-Word. A World Cup of CII was organized by IENA which kindly pointed to FFII ressources. (Comments: 1)
  • 1194457715|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — FFII Vs Amazon: EPO practice is no legal foundation: FFII has submitted its objections in writing to the Opposition division of the EPO on their preliminary ruling over the patentability of the Amazon one-click patent. The actual practice of the EPO is not a legal foundation for reasoning of the Opposition Division, article 100a EPC is. (Comments: 0)
  • 1193919198|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Finally some movement against Software Patents in the US?: Linux.com is reporting about the launch of a End of Software Patents (ESP) campaign in the United States. It seems that the group will try to reach its objective by creating caselaw at the US Supreme Court. Finally some movement against Software Patents in the US. (Comments: 0)
  • 1193654047|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Commission to seek a mandate from the Council to sign ACTA: The European Commission has announced last week that they will seek a mandate to negotiate major new international anti-counterfeiting pact at the global level. The European Commission is also including strong IPR chapters in all its new generation of Free Trade Agreements with India, Korea, ASEAN and Latin America. (Comments: 1)
  • 1193582786|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Microsoft strives to collect patent royalties merely for access to its protocols: In this video Mark Webbink explains how historically software was never meant to be but was patented in the US for the first time and how after the US anti-trust case Microsoft resorted to software patents as a way of legally obtaining an anti-competitive weapon. (and explains why it is heavy lobbying to legitimize their software patents in the EU, which the EPO has been granting illegaly.) (Comments: 0)
  • 1193306790|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Software patents puts ZFS viability at risk?: Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of Sun Microsystems, is announcing that the company is countersuing NetApp for patent infringement. NetApp is currently suing Sun for patent violation over their ZFS file system. Jonathan is asking the question whether "ZFS Puts Net App Viability at Risk?". That might be the wrong question, but at least he is thinking about patent reform. (Comments: 0)
  • 1193136447|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Opinion: behind the Acacia suit: What is behind the Acacia suit against Novell and Red Hat? Is it simply perfect timing, or something more than coincidence? We explain one possible strategy behind the lawsuits. (Comments: 0)
  • 1193135078|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Opinion: EU and Microsoft gang up on the GPL: As the EU snatches defeat from the slavering jaws of victory, and Microsoft cries crocodile tears, while counting its license fee chickens, we take a look at what's really happened in Brussels this week, and how it will affect the FOSS community. (Comments: 6)
  • 1193134314|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — FFII: EU tells open source to start paying MS patent tax: EU Commissioner Kroes' deal with Microsoft creates real dangers to Europe's growing open source economy, warns the FFII. Using patent licenses that exclude businesses, the software monopolist has turned the EU competition ruling into a victory, and now gets implicit support from the Commission to proceed aggressively against its competitors. (Comments: 1)
  • 1193060541|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Microsoft finally defeats EU competition ruling with patents: Reuters reports: "Kroes personally negotiated with Microsoft President Steve Ballmer in a number of conversations including over a meal at a restaurant near her home town of Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, she said. [...] They agreed that the royalties payable for the interoperability information will be [...] of 10,000 euros. The royalties for a worldwide license including patents will be [...] of 0.4 percent." This is Microsoft final victory over competitors, as FFII predicted in press release of last 17 September "Microsoft will trump EU competition ruling with patents". (Comments: 4)
  • 1192704284|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — FFII vs Amazon: add a computer, and the EPO will give you software patents: FFII is currently opposing the Amazon one-click patent (EP927945) at the European Patent Office based on subject matter exclusion (EPC art52.2 - exclusion of computer programs from the field of patentability). This broad software patent is listed n°10 on the FFII's webshop poster and impacts any webshop running on the internet. The Opposition division made a preliminary decision last 30 July. Guess how they replied to FFII's opposition: just add a computer to your computer program, and the EPO will give you a computer program patent. (Comments: 14)
  • 1192635698|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Why the Unbundling Windows Sceptics are Wrong: In this interesting article, the author, Con Zymaris, examines and dismantles the arguments provided by those who maintain that PCs should continue being sold bundled to the Microsoft Windows operative system, no matter if this practice creates a private tax to the consumer computing market and a great disturbance in such market being 95% dominated by a single vendor during the last 20 years. (Comments: 0)
  • 1192529749|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Microsoft prefers to buy patents now: In an article published by EETimes, Marshall Phelps is mentioning that Microsoft has been busy for the last 18 months to buy patents instead of applying for them for a total amount of USD 1.4 billion. Not bad. (Comments: 0)
  • 1192287272|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — EICTA unable to submit their definition of open standards: EICTA, one of the most aggressive lobby for software patents in Europe, has commented on the revision on EIFv1.0 (European Interoperabilty Framework) by saying that a RAND standard can be assimilated to an open standard. Looking at the composition of the board of the association, EICTA represents mainly the interests of Philips, Alcatel, Nokia, Ericsson, Microsoft, Siemens and similar large hardcore pro-software patents companies. (Comments: 0)
  • 1192124029|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Philips educate SMEs on how to better use patents: The head of the Philips patent department has been one of the driving force behind a report ordered by the European Commission on "Removing barriers for a better use of IPR by SMEs" published in August and recently linked in the newsletter published by the European Commission's Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry. Philips, the most aggressive company when it comes to software patents, was already one of the main driver behind a similar chapter on 'how to better educate SMEs to use software patents' in the controversial report of the ICT Task Force. (Comments: 0)
  • 1191587031|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Commission to force a patented standard for digital TV?: The Commission has issued a communication to the Council and Parliament on Digital TV, where they mention the problem of patents and open standards for the DVB-H standard, which is subject to a patent tax in the form of royalties collected by MPEG-LA. (Comments: 3)
  • 1191430557|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Will the patent system trigger financial collapse in 2008?: House prices fall and bad debt shakes the financial markets across the US and Europe. Bankers look nervously at their portfolios of consumer debt and mortages. But some analysts say that it's patents, not houses or loans, that will tip the global financial market into crisis, early in 2008. (Comments: 0)
  • 1191243219|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Commission to decide on what is RAND?: Commission DG Competition has launched an investigation into the patent licensing practices of Qualcomm, which, according to complaints made by Nokia, Ericsson, Texas Instruments, Broadcom, NEC and Panasonic, did not licence its patents under "Reasonable and non-discriminatory" (RAND) terms. (Comments: 0)
  • 1190193225|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Google complains about trolls: Michelle Lee, Head of Google Patents and Patent Strategy, is complaining about patent trolls on their Public Policy Blog. (Comments: 0)
  • 1189581882|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — IBM Throws Weight Behind OpenOffice.org Project: "The OpenOffice.org community today announced that IBM will be joining the community to collaborate on the development of OpenOffice.org software." The move was partly motivated by ISO's rejection of Microsoft's Open XML (OOXML). (Comments: 1)
  • 1186768688|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — The ISO standard for corruption: Megatron continues to blast its OOXML format through the ISO process like a tank driving through a village church. Bad faith, anti-competitive, or illegal, history will decide. In the the War on Standards, the stench of bribery and corporate influence has reached the ISO secretariat. (Comments: 0)
  • 1186642143|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Qualcomm found guilty of patent ambush: The Register reports that Qualcomm has been found guilty in San Diego of ambushing the H.264 video standard with undeclared patents. If this ruling is upheld, we could see the beginning of the end of patent ambushes on standards. Let the vendor beware! (Comments: 0)
  • 1185275879|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — EPO plans to create "European Court of Patent Appeals": According to leaked documents and the EPO's own site, the EPO is planning to separate the Board of Appeals (aka DG3) from the European Patent Office, and turn them into an independent body operating within the European Patent Convention (EPC). This looks like an attempt to move forwards with EPLA, despite a ruling from the European Parliament's legal service that this would be illegal. (Comments: 2)
  • 1185207839|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — "EPLA is the fuel for trolls" says IBM: Joff Wild is reporting the IBM SoftIP idea, and more interestingly, the IBM view on EPLA: "There are serious concerns that EPLA as currently proposed will be favourable to patent trolls on the one hand and a poor forum for consideration of highly valuable patents on the other." (Comments: 0)
  • 1184598058|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Study shows most VC-funded software startups don't patent: In "Do Patents Facilitate Financing in the Software Industry?", Ronald J. Mann argues for software patents, but in fact tells us that 80% of new software startups have not acquired a single patent within four years of venture funding. (Comments: 0)
  • 1183163679|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — "Users Get to Decide their Document Formats"...: A Microsoft position paper explains: "Some have questioned whether ISO/IEC should ratify Open XML now that ODF 1.0 has been ratified there. It is important to appreciate that these are fundamentally different formats that meet different needs in the marketplace, and the standardization and use of one does not preclude the standardization and use of the other." (Comments: 0)
  • 1182992331|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — EU Council meets at EPO?: The seat of the EU Council is Brussels but often the groups meet elsewhere e.g. at the European Patent Office. (Comments: 0)
  • 1182765294|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Charlie McCreevy fights on for software patents: Is EPLA dead or not? In a recent speech EU Commissioner Charlie McCreevy, a long time supporter of Microsoft's quest to tame the European technology market through the strategic software patenting, suggests that EPLA is still on the cards. (Comments: 0)
  • 1182598312|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Al Gore: special interests outweigh public interests: "In a democracy, we have always had power exerted by special interests -- but it's out of control now," Gore said. "The special interests almost every time now outweigh the public interests, and that's dangerous for our democracy." (Comments: 0)
  • 1181664263|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — EPO publishes its "4 scenarios for the future": The European Patent Office has just published its online PDF version of the 4 scenarios for the future. There is no doubt that the recent struggles over the practice of the Office on software and gene patents, as well as the strikes of the examiners and the flood of patents, has pushed the President Pompidou to initiate this report. (Comments: 2)
  • 1181062490|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — What's the cost of specialised patent courts?: Pieter Hintjens continues his look at the costs for patent litigation across Europe, and comes up with a surprising result for what happens in countries that create specialised courts that hear only patents, the model being proposed for a single European patent court system. (Comments: 0)
  • 1180793600|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Would a central European patent court save costs?: In this report we look at data on patent litigation in the EU and note that Germany, the main backer of a central patent court, accounts for 57% of cases in the EU. We note that the costs of litigation correlate strongly with the volume of cases; that Germany and the UK account for 90% of all litigation costs in the EU; and we conclude that under EPLA, the average cost of litigation could rise from 150,000 Euro to 1.5M Euro. (Comments: 0)
  • 1180545240|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Yes, Microsoft is the threat: Mark Shuttleworth recently wrote that “Microsoft is not the real threat”. In this article I argue that Microsoft is most definitely the threat. They hold the sword at the throat of much of the IT industry. When Microsoft understands, finally, that the future belongs to the good guys, that “do no evil” is more powerful marketing than “do more evil”, that in order to have a future, a firm must not hold onto the past... then, finally, we can say that Microsoft is no longer a threat, and we can turn our full attention to the trolls and the lawyers and the bureaucrats. (Comments: 7)
  • 1180452167|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Dogmia bites Nokia's Karmia: Nokia has been paying $500m a year to Qualcomm for patent rights. Enough is enough, says Nokia. Ironically Nokia was a staunch defender of every European's rights to defend themselves with software patents. I'm wondering how long it will take someone to argue that poor Nokia was left vulnerable exactly because the FFII beat out the Software Patents Directive... (Comments: 0)
  • 1179854597|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — What's wrong with software patents?: Inspired by some ideas presented at EUPACO-2, I'm going to try to summarise a simple set of arguments for explaining to even the most stubborn patent lawyer why patents on software simply don't fly. (Comments: 3)
  • 1179826709|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — FFII to compromise with software patent supporters?: People actually ask me such questions. The long answer involves twenty metres of garden twine, three setting poles, a pair of chopsticks, and a greased pig called Berty. The short answer is two letters long, starts with "n", ends in "o", and rhymes with "snow". (Comments: 0)
  • 1179479081|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — First report from EUPACO-2: A brief snapshot from a successful and packed event that raised more questions than it answered, but left most people agreeing on the problems of the European patent system, and some of the solutions. (Comments: 2)
  • 1179433842|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — The Economics of Examination: What is the main job of the EPO? To sell patents? Or to examine them and reject invalid patents? A close look at the economics of the examination process make it pretty clear (Comments: 0)
  • 1178800617|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Who's on top?: Invalid EPO patents are enforceable in the UK for “business certainty”, says Lord Justice Jacob. Neither the EPO not national patent system "is on top". Meanwhile a firm pays for patents that are in opposition at the EPO. (Comments: 2)
  • 1178559289|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Linux, Dell, Novell, Microsoft... part 2: As I predicted on Digital Majority about two months ago, Dell has announced that it will offer its customers a neat package of Dell hardware, Suse Linux software, and Microsoft patents. (Comments: 0)
  • 1178183202|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Why is EUPACO-2 important?: I asked some of the thirty-plus experts coming to speak at EUPACO-2 to explain why thought EUPACO-2 was worth the effort. Here are their answers. (Comments: 0)
  • 1178110509|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Sharon Bowles does a good job: When you are member of the European Parliament and a patent attorney you could serve the public interest rather than the patent industry. Sharon Bowles is very proud to be on the right side. (Comments: 0)
  • 1178033591|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — US wants to change Hungarian patent regime: According to its IPR watch list USA wants EU-member state Hungary to link 'marketing approvals' for pharmaceuticals to patent infringement and announced to interfere into Hungarian affairs. (Comments: 0)
  • 1177678357|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Who would benefit from a European patent court?: The EPO claims on its website that "the savings in litigation costs would benefit all patent holders across Europe" in the case of the EPLA. What they do not tell you is what happens for defendants. (Comments: 0)
  • 1176910837|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — The examiners are revolting: A coalition of patent examiners say that "many in the intellectual property community have come to realize that an increase in patent applications does not necessarily represent an increase in technological progress." (Comments: 1)
  • 1176554548|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Photocopiers manufacturers are criminals?: EFF has launched a petition in order to prevent the criminalisation of "aiding, abetting, inciting" copyright infringements, which will sent authors of P2P software such as Bittorrent, Azureus, Apache, or Outlook in jail because those tools can be used to share copyrighted files. (Comments: 0)
  • 1176300223|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — ITRE committe to vote on RAND standards: The Committee of Industry, Technology and Research will vote tomorrow thursday morning on some amendments to the Gierek's report on Innovation. Some lobbies are pushing Member of European Parliament to adopt RAND standards as Open Standards. (Comments: 1)
  • 1175876191|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Oracle joins the OIN "Maginot Line" project: Oracle has joined the "Maginot Line" project, as known as the Open Invention Network, that aims to protect the Linux project against patent attackers in order to countersue. The only problem is that this stategy does not work with patent trolls. (Comments: 1)
  • 1175875081|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Microsoft patent their copyrights: Microsoft spokeman is claiming today that "People patent their copyrights and everyone protects their IP and that's how the industry works." (Comments: 0)
  • 1175613996|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Spanish MEP questions the Commission on patent policy: A spanish MEP from the Socialist group, has sent a written question on patent policy to the Commission. She remembers the failed software patent directive, but she also fails to remember the lessons of the failure: fear of litigation, not fear of not having patents. (Comments: 0)
  • 1174156477|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — The future of TV: "The future is already here, it's just isn't evenly distributed", said William Gibson. The future of TV is already here, but concentrated in a few spots. (Comments: 0)
  • 1173864355|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Dell about to promote Novell/SuSE Linux Desktop?: In an online survey, Dell has been asking people to express their views about whether they want to be able to buy Dell systems running Linux. We think this innocent survey (which brought Dell's servers down, as the story hit Slashdot) could just see the emergence of Linux on the desktop, from a totally unexpected angle. (Comments: 0)
  • 1173777608|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — The battle for the past: Computerworld reports that "Microsoft guns Open XML onto ISO fast track", despite many oppositions. Microsoft's "open" office XML "standard" will, if Redmond has its way, become an ISO standard, possibly by August. Why is Microsoft pulling out all the stops to get its obsolete binary XML format declared a "standard"? (Comments: 0)
  • 1173534269|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — EU procurement: power to the supplier: The European Union Commission provides a staff working document that is an insightful document how procurement policy never ought to be. Before purchasing a solution the public authority should consult market players of what it wants to buy. No mention was given to avoidance of strategic dependencies and (open) standards policy or other strategic tools to drive procurement costs down. (Comments: 1)
  • 1173447312|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Software patents and Fiscal "optimisation": Bayrou, the center right candidate for presidential elections in France, is promoting 0% of taxes for patent royalties in order to promote "small companies and inventors". According to an american investigation journalist, american companies (Google, Microsoft) are using Irish companies and the 0% of tax on patent royalties in order to escape the american fiscal authorities. (Comments: 0)
  • 1173257896|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Banana Union Day: Exactly 2 years ago today the EU Council of Ministers resorted to a violation of its own procedural rules (i.e. deciding without the required majority), just to avoid taking the Parliament seriously. As calls for democratisation of the EU are gaining weight, this experience continues to be worth commemorating. (Comments: 1)
  • 1173196581|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — USPTO recruiting unpaid examiners: The United States Patent Office is opening a new wiki-style website on which, it hopes, people will submit prior art. FFII is skeptical. (Comments: 2)
  • 1173030992|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — EPLA going to the European Court of Justice?: The EP's legal service has ruled that the Community has exclusive competence to decide on a new European Patent Litigation Agreement. If Germany ignores this decision, we could see EPLA come before the ECJ. (Comments: 0)
  • 1172779905|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Microsoft antitrust case smells of software patents: The Commission has released today a Frequently Asked Questions page using several ambiguous wordings that might indicate some patent experts that the Microsoft case in Europe smells more and more of software patents. (Comments: 3)
  • 1172777922|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — EPO seeks Berlin lobbyist: How does the EPO listen to political decision makers? By lobbying Parliament. They are very committed to that task. Public awareness raising and technical assistance continue to be observed as a key role for sustainable business success of the EPO. (Comments: 0)
  • 1172747223|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Jumping the Shark: Is the call for "ethical patents" weaker than "no software patents"? Has the FFII grown feeble and toothless over the last year? Are we compromising our ideals, or are we doing a triple-E (embrace, extend, extinguish) on the patent system? Have Pieter Hintjens and his cohorts "jumped the shark", or are we instead seeing the start of a wide-ranging offensive that will leave the patent extremists reeling in shock and horror as their carefully-constructed alternate reality collapses around them? (Comments: 1)
  • 1171902159|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Research Project on Intellectual Property Rights in Europe: A team of social scientists from The University of Hamburg's Centre for Globalization and Governance is conducting a research project about conflicts around intellectual property rights, taking as case study the software patent directive and the IPRED1 Fourtou directive (civil sanctions for infringements of all intellectual property rights). (Comments: 0)
  • 1171879898|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — You are probably not a person skilled in the art: A representative of the EPO presented the definition of a person skilled in the art according to the EPO Technical Board of Appeal definition at the last Legal Affairs conference organised by EGA (European Generics Association). (Comments: 0)
  • 1171151272|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Measuring Innovation: Alexandre Dulaunoy writes, "Evaluating innovation in a company based on a single factor like the patent system is dangerous for everyone including the investor. At a time where the society ask for more accountability inside the companies, we really need a better system to evaluate innovation." (Comments: 1)
  • 1170993079|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Commissioner Wallström narrations: What story does the EU tell? Difficult to say. But NGO activists have a lot of stories to tell about the EU. Communication Commissioner Wallström has a surprisingly contradictory message. (Comments: 0)
  • 1170804940|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Hugo Lueders cannot beat European vital interests: It seems as if European Institutions finally got it: Europe has to stimulate competition and serve the needs of its own SME ICT infrastructure. No more dinners with representatives from abroad. No more listening to that guy who 'represents the industry'. (Comments: 0)
  • 1170259604|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — EPO and EPI working in a vacuum: Chris Mercer, President of the EPI (Institute of Professionals before the European Patent Office) mentioned in the proceedings of the conference "Quality Matters" that the EPO and EPI are working in a vacuum. (Comments: 0)
  • 1169845573|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — The EPO explains its true mission: You thought the mission of the EPO was to examine patents and grant them when valid? Confused when you saw full-page adverts from the EPO calling for software patents? Pompidou, the outgoing president of the European Patent Office, has cleared up the confusion for once and for all. (Comments: 0)
  • 1169268037|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Microsoft VISTA and European National Security: As leaked by the Washington Post this month the National Security Agency, a Secret Service of the United States, participated in Microsoft Vista Development. For the adoption of the product by EU governments that raises serious security concerns. (Comments: 0)
  • 1167869135|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — UK petition against Software patents: Richard Lightman started an official UK online petition. This gives UK citizens a unique and historic occasion to express their opinion on this issue. Perhaps other countries will follow this example? (Comments: 1)
  • 1167516740|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Lesig: Wrong or not to be wrong: Online journalism in the lights of the US MS Antitrust case. Wired author Lessig made up his mind about 'regulation' that has been made obsolete by Linux. (Comments: 0)
  • 1166402808|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — CESPRI Study: Value(lessness) of Software Patents: In an economic study for the Italian CESPRI, Hall, Thoma and Torrisi find that software patents in Europe have no impact on firm market value and that they might be used mainly for strategic reason by non-software-companies. (Comments: 0)
  • 1166020056|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — The ethics of the patent system: What defines an "ethical" system? Is the profit motive all that matters? In this article, I provide an easy way of measuring whether a particular system is ethical or not. It sheds some light on the software patent debate. (Comments: 2)
  • 1166018634|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — The Software Trust - a new copyright model for software: Here is a modest proposal for a new form of copyright that is specifically designed for software. I call this new form of copyright the "Software Trust". Software Trust balances the needs of software developers with those of society at large (software consumers). Like traditional copyright, Software Trust is free, clearly demarked, easy to enforce. But it has a much shorter protection lifetime, and provides a proper framework for moving abandoned software into the common domain. (Comments: 4)
  • 1166017368|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — EPLA - the US gunships are circling: The patent industry says EPLA is a condition for US investment into Europe. What does Europe need more - US practices enforced by gunboat diplomacy, or good conditions for local businesses? (Comments: 0)
  • 1165935878|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — A technical analysis of EPLA and CP: Did you know that there are three different EPLA proposals? That one of the strongest supporters of EPLA is Switzerland? Fresh from the desks of the FFII's EPLA workgroup, a deep technical explanation of the Community Patent, and EPLA in all its colours. (Comments: 0)
  • 1165754590|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — A sustainable patent system?: Pieter Hintjens suggests that a patent system is necessary, but that the current trends are towards implosive self-destruction. He lists five steps for constructing a sustainable patent system. (Comments: 11)
  • 1165398967|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — "Reforming US Patent Policy": A report issued by the US Council of Foreign Relations says the US patent system is misguided and is harming competitiveness. (Comments: 0)
  • 1164255607|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Novell-MS patent deal is no defense against bad laws: Market observers raise a lot of objections against the MS-Novell patent deal. But what gets hardly discussed: Upcoming legislation in the European Parliament could make the MS-Novell patent indemnification deal a "useless defense". (Comments: 3)
  • 1164197965|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z — Who stole my software?: An article by Pieter Hintjens, based on a speech to the Austrian Chamber of Commerce on November 17, 2006. (Comments: 0)