EU to waive its powers to define a patent policy

Update: Thanks to everyone who has called MEPs. The amendments have been tabled by the Greens. See the Voting recommendations.

Next week the European Parliament will discuss and vote on ACTA. It will also discuss and vote on a regulation on the unitary patent.

The unitary-patent.eu site notes:

“The European Parliament will vote on July 4th 2012 for a regulation on the unitary patent.

The current text, as agreed in December 2011 by the Commission, the Council and the Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI) of the European Parliament, amounts for the European Union (EU) to waive its powers to define a patent policy for the benefit of the European Patent Office (EPO), which is not an EU body and whose governance has been highly criticised, specially with regard to its practice of granting software patents, against the letter and the spirit of European patent law.

Moreover, the implementation of this shift of powers is based on a legal architecture which raises strong doubts about its compliance with the EU treaties. Therefore, the proposal, if voted without substantial changes is likely to be nullified by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

We are proposing a set of amendments aiming to bring a legal certainty to the regulation and to fix the political issue of the governance of the European patent system.

You can help by calling Members of the European Parliaments (MEPs) in order for them to table these amendments before Wednesday June 27th, 12:00.”

Secret negotiations on ACTA, an ACTA committee without transparency, and no oversight on the granting of patents? This has to stop.

Get two for the price of one (free anyway), do call your MEP on both the unitary patent regulation amendments and ACTA, using LQDN’s PiPhone. See also EDRi.

7 thoughts on “EU to waive its powers to define a patent policy

  1. WE WANT TO SHARE with each other. THAT is the POINT!

    SHARING is exactly what the INTERNET is intended for.

    otherwise, why bother??

    we’ve been brainwashed into this depraved lifestyle of profligate greed and conspicuous consumption… war is peace, ignorance is strength, freedom is slavery, greed is good, sharing is piracy… ‘corporations are ‘people’?!

    well to hell with that inhumane depravity.

    if the greedy corporate parasites can’t figure out an economic model that SUPPORTS SHARING – instead of criminalizing normal human behavior – then too bad for the parasitic middlemen & degenerate profiteers.

    good riddance i say!
    as one Digg commenter put it:

    “It sucks being a candlestick maker in a electric light world… unless you can get control of the government to pass laws to protect candle sticks, and attack electric lights. That is what the recording & copyright industry is doing; paying congress to protect their candle-making whilst attacking the electric light makers and internet users of the world.”

    SHARING is not ‘piracy’. It is precisely what WE SHOULD BE DOING.

  2. Pingback: Contact your MEP over ACTA | ACTA

  3. Software Patents will retard the future economy and evolution.
    Software Patens only causes lawsuits.

  4. Dear MEP:s

    Please say NO for software patents and ACTA. They are very disastrous for software companies all over Europe (and all over the world).

    supporter of Finnish party Kokoomus (“member” of EPP)
    An elder ICT-consultant and project coordinator in ITABO Oy (Finland)
    and an entrepreur at Digiplan Ky (finland)

  5. SHARING is not ‘piracy’!!! It is precisely what WE SHOULD BE DOING!!!