Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-28-Speech-4-146"
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"en.20060928.24.4-146"2
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".
Mr President, last year Parliament rejected by 684 votes to 14 an attempt to impose patents on software, because, like books and all written materials, software is best described as ‘ideas in symbolic form’ and should continue to be subject only to copyright. Parliament was also persuaded that patenting software would stifle invention, cripple small businesses and harm the economy, and yet this year the Commission returns with an even more sweeping proposal, which would permit software to be patented.
The proposal is for a single patent court, whose judiciary would be appointed by the same board as that which appoints judges to the present appeals court of the existing – purely advisory – European Patent Office. The Commission has a seat on the Board and, under this proposal, would acquire voting rights as well. This raises serious doubts about the independence of the new court, especially when we consider that the EPO has no scruples about issuing patents for software and that this proposal commits a single patent court to following the precedents set by previous EPO decisions.
By the proposal’s own admission, litigation in this new court will be two to three times more costly than litigation in national patent courts, which this proposal will also abolish, thus putting appeal to this court beyond the reach of all but large corporations. I thought the computer-implemented inventions directive was bad until I saw this proposal. If it goes through, I shall gladly take the Leninist view that worse is better. Nevertheless, we should say no again and ask the Commissioners what part of no they do not understand."@en1
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