The removal of three words – “small” and “mutual
recognition” – from the proposal was enough to please the
lobbyists, who had been concerned that the mutual recognition of
national patents would result in a flood of patent suits all over
Europe.
The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) and
campaigner Florian Mueller had also been concerned that the
proposal would see a reduction in patent quality and an increase in
software patents, as patent applicants shopped around to find
national patent offices willing to grant their patents.
Mueller called the outcome of the vote "excellent news from
Strasbourg". He explained that the amendment was made only to a
call for legislation, and did not amount to a vote on legislation
itself. But he said that such a call "would have been a
disappointing start for [anti-software patent campaigners] with
respect to the EU's new patent policy initiative, and it would have
had negative effects for the future".
Brussels-based Benjamin Henrion of the FFII also welcomed the
European Parliament's decision saying that it showed that the
Parliament was keeping all its options open.
