Out-Law News 1 min. read

Software Patents Directive goes before Council of Ministers


The EU's Council of Ministers looks set this week to reject amendments made by the European Parliament which would affect the scope of a controversial draft Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions, according to reports.

The draft Directive has a troubled history, with the Parliamentary vote being postponed twice in response to criticisms that the proposed legislation risked bringing to Europe the more liberal regime of software and business method patenting that exists in the US.

The Directive seeks to harmonise European rules on the patentability of "computer-implemented inventions" – devices like mobile phones, intelligent household appliances, engine control devices, machine tools and computer program-related inventions – but concerns have been raised that the Directive would also allow patents for "actual software".

When the draft finally came before Parliament in September, it was only passed after many amendments were made to tighten the scope for patentability, pleasing small businesses and developers but angering some of the big players in the industry, who called on the Council of Ministers to reverse the position.

The Council was due to discuss the draft in November, but the debate was postponed, and is now due to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

According to the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), which has been campaigning against the patenting of software, the new proposal, which was put forward by the Irish Presidency, does indeed reverse the amendments made by the Parliament and is "the most uncompromisingly pro-patent text yet".

Said the FFII:

"The new text proposes to discard all the amendments from the European [Parliament] which would limit patentability. Instead the lax language of the original Commission proposal is to be reinstated in its entirety, with direct patentability of computer programs, data structures and process descriptions added as icing on the cake."

Not all Council Members are in favour of this reversal, most notably Germany. Its Federal Department of Justice Minsterial Director Elmar Hucko is reported by Ars Technica:

"Under no circumstances do we want American procedures in Europe." He added that patents must be "a fair reward for a bona fide invention and not abused as a strategy to bludgeon competitors."

Members of the European Parliament are also up in arms. According to the FFII, Johanna
Boogerd-Quaak, a Dutch member of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party commented:

"I'm under the impression that the Irish Presidency has buckled under the interests of American Companies. A handful of big American Companies may actually profit from software patents, but it is a very bad deal for innovation in European SMEs. Additionally, the Council is showing contempt for parliamentary democracy."

We are processing your request. \n Thank you for your patience. An error occurred. This could be due to inactivity on the page - please try again.