EPO software patents continue despite 10th anniversary of the European Parliament vote

Brussels, 24 September 2013 — Ten years after the historical vote of the European Parliament to ban software patents, the EPO, the patent community and large companies continue to push for their validation through the Unitary Patent Court.

Benjamin Henrion, president of the FFII, says: “Freedom of programming has won that day, but it did not take long for the enemies of freedom to fight back. While freedom fighters went back to their businesses and families, the patent community kept pushing for the next step, a central patent court in order to validate the software patents granted by the EPO.”

FFII vice president Rene Mages declares : “The patent microcosm excels to lobby the European commission and to change the designation (in a way a clumsy strategy) specially when our activism is winning : CII, EPLA, London Agreement, UPLS, and now Unitary Patent with a new Patent Court but the main goal is an invariant : to make official an intolerable drift of the patentable subject matters since 1986 (see Vicom case law). This type of underhand drift is profit-making for the patent microcosm, that goes without saying.”

The patent failure (title of a famous Bessen-Meurer book) is more than obvious : one of the best proofs is the increasing number of patent litigations ( see the pitiful saga of the patent trolls). It is time to rewrite new patent law texts, in particular to redefine what is not an invention, what is not an industrial application. Patent laws currently in force were fitted (but often in a controversial way) to the two previous centuries but they are completely inapplicable at the new digital world. FFII founder Hartmut Pilch – during 2008 – has said with a great pertinence : “Integrate the patent and copyright system into a paradigm that is compatible with the digital age”. Of course it is time also to put on the table the EPO non legitimacy to interprete the law. EPO is not an official European institution (with SUEPO we must repeat and repeat this evidence). The FFII favorite mantra is more than ever true : “Never forget this evidence: The European Patent Office finances itself by fees from the patents which it grants”. It is an open secret that European commission is under influence of EPO and patent microcosm. Is it clear enough for a majority of our politicians?

Contact information

Benjamin Henrion (FR/EN)
FFII Brussels
Mobile: +32-484-566109
Email: bhenrion (at) ffii.org

Rene Mages (FR/EN)
FFII France
Mobile: +33-680-606496
Email: rmages (at) ffii.org

FFII Office Berlin (DE/EN)
Malmöer Str. 6
D-10439 Berlin
Fon: +49-30-41722597
Fax (office service): +49-721-509663769
Email: office (at) ffii.org
https://www.ffii.org

About the FFII

The FFII is a not-for-profit association, dedicated to the development of information goods for the public benefit, based on copyright, free competition, and open standards. More than 1,000 members, 3,500 companies and 100,000 supporters have entrusted the FFII to act as their voice in public policy questions concerning exclusion rights in data processing.

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