Countdown: 3 weeks until World Day Against Software Patents

Davey Winder
Wednesday, 03 September 2008 02:42

Business IT - Technology

September 24 is probably not going to be the best day to work at a patent office, considering that geeks the world over are being called upon to gather outside and protest against software patents. But do we need, and what else will be happening on, the World Day Against Software Patents?

September 24th 2008 will the fifth anniversary of the European Parliament first reading of the European Commission's controversial directive proposals with regard to software patents. Those with long memories might recall that it came complete with amendments to stop the harmful progression of trivial software patents.

Of course, the lobbyists did their thing quickly enough and a couple of years later the directive became a dead duck at the second European Parliament reading. Software programmers and IT businesses would not be protected from patent trolls after all.

PatentFrei, a coalition of 1000 German software businesses which stand united against software patents, explains that the European copyright laws, which should guarantee the copyright holder security of an appropriate reimbursement, is nothing more than an empty shell.

"The creativity of software developers has been replaced by the creativity of patent lawyers with the writing of broad patent claims. Politicians are asked today more than ever to bring back a patent system which has gone off course, and to stop granting patents on software" PatentFrei argues.

It isn't just Europe that has a software patents problem, far from it. The Indian Patent Office looks like allowing software patents to pass, no matter how loudly the Indian Parliament insists it isn't.

Anwar Ummer Arackal, CEO of OpenFirms, a consulting company for some of the leading health care organizations and companies in India, says "Patents in the field of software hinders the accessibility to technology of our government health care clients who depend mainly on large scale deployment of embedded devices for functioning. This situation would lead to monopoly and anti competitive strategies."

What about the US Patent Office and its apparent willingness to grant the most ridiculous of patents, and exactly what does this day of world action hope to achieve? Find out on page 2...

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