In conjunction with the release of this report, the European Commission has launched what it’s calling a “consultation” section on the Internet about the patentability of computer-implemented inventions. Interested parties and the public at large are invited to comment until December 15 on the basis of this consultation paper.

He said

In a statement, the commission explained the debate: “Some sections of European industry have repeatedly asked for swift action to remove the current ambiguity and legal uncertainty surrounding the patentability of software-related inventions. Their argument is that in the absence of such patentability, Europe risks losing the global innovation race in this high-technology sector. On the other hand, a substantial number of small- and medium-sized enterprises and those favoring the creation and use of open source software, the so-called ‘open source community,’ have increasingly raised concerns about software patents. The consultations just launched will give all parties another chance to comment on the issue.”

The commission has said it will make a final decision only after the end of this consultation period. In deciding its policy, the commission will consider the likely impact of patents for computer-implemented
inventions on:

“It is possible that this [November] conference will decide to delete computer programs from the list in the convention of items that cannot be patented,” according to the commission.

She said

Last month, an article written by Anne Ostergaard, Carsten Svaneborg, Hanne Munkholm, Keld Jorn Simonsen, and Niels Jorgensen from the Skane Sjælland Linux User Group (SSLUG), a Swedish/Danish association with 5,800 members, called “Software patents — No thanks!” was published on a number of Web sites and in newspapers in several EU member countries. The article raises the concerns many Open Source advocates find troubling about software patenting.

In addition to its publication in newspapers and Web sites, “the French will include our article in a report to the French Government,” said Ostergaard of SSLUG, “and it was officially sent to the EU commissioner responsible for the software patents file …”

She added: “Patents have become an industry in itself, a lucrative way of making a living on other people’s creativity, for patent offices, patent agents, and patent attorneys at law. It benefits mainly the multinational computer firms, which don’t need the protection, they can manage very well without patents as they sell closed-code programs.”

She’s not a big fan so far on the European Commission’s Internet consultation. “So far it is a one-way communication, we cannot see other people’s comments and we are not able to take part of the answers from other countries, groups or individuals,” she said. “This is against the philosophy of Open Source and of a fair democratic process. We in the European Linux Alliance find it necessary to be able to see the answers in order to be able to follow the debate. It is possible that EuroLinux will put up a website where people can see at least some of the answers, but hopefully the EU Commission will publish the answers on the Internet.”