Software patent debate

For general information on software patents, see the main article.

There is heated debate as to whether it should be possible to patent software as a matter of public policy.

A particularly active focus of the debate at the present time is the proposed European Union directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions, also known as the "CII Directive" or the "Software Patent Directive," which is scheduled to return to the EU Parliament in 2005.

Contents

1 Arguments for patentability 2 External links 2.1 Sites in favor of the patentability of computer-implemented inventions 2.2 Sites against software patents

Arguments for patentability

Arguments commonly given in defense of software patents or in defense of the patentability of computer-implemented inventions (which could be defined differently) include:

• Patenting software inventions promotes investment in research and development.
  • Economic studies argue that patent monopolies actually reduce investment.
  • Patents are intended to protect investment in manufacturing equipment/process, not in R&D. Patents do not provide anything like reasonable protection for R&D investment.
• If we did not have software patents we would not have technologies like CDs, mobile phones and ABS brakes.^{US Federal Trade Commission 2003 patent report}
• ^ Patents4Innovation
• ^ Ways in Which Patents can Help Your E-Commerce Business
• ^ "Restricting IP rights is tantamount to communism"
• ^ [21]
• ^ [22]
• ^ The Times 17Jan05
• ^ FFII Directive Analysis
• ^ Indian Government Reference
• ^ "Indian Government Orders Legalisation of Software Patents"
• ^ FFII - Europarl Hearings
• ^ Lawrence Lessig
• ^ [23]
• ^ French (in French)
• ^ FFII
• ^ [24]

External links

Sites in favor of the patentability of computer-implemented inventions

• Patents4Innovation.org, a web site to promote innovation and competition in e-Europe.
• EICTA web site (see also: European Information, Communications and Consumer Electronics Technology Industry Associations or EICTA)
• Article from IEEE on the business model of Acacia Technologies Group .
• iusmentis.com is a web site from a patent attorney. It contains a good explanation of how patents work.

Sites against software patents

• Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII)
  • Webshop example Demonstrates the extent of software patents.
  • Opposition by FFII to software patent legislation in Europe
  • The report from the hearings of the FTC a summary of what was said to the FTC.
• No Software Patents - a web campaign supported by companies (1&1, Red Hat, MySQL)
• The History of Software Patents from BitLaw.
• Free Software Foundation: transcript and audio of Software patents – Obstacles to software development which Richard Stallman gave about software patents (the audio archive linked contains two more speeches about software patents)
• Irish Free Software Organisation (IFSO)
• Liberal economists
• competition law bodies (BEUC)
• European SME groups (UEAPAME, CEA-PME, dmmv, DIHK, WKO, ...)
• EU campaign NoEpatents (Eurolinux-alliance) with more than 360 000 European signatures one of the largest Internet campaigns ever.
• League for Programming Freedom
• Sequential Innovation, Patents, and Imitation by James Bessen and Eric Maskin
• Software Patents vs. Free Software by Bruce Perens
• Report on Software Patentability by Conseil des Mines Study Group - Stimulating Innovation in the Information Society
• SWpat information page by ESR Pollmeier (German SME), opposed to swpat
• AEL (Association Electronique Libre) Wiki Software Patent Main Project page
  • on patent history, e.g. Diamond vs. Diehr
  • Coverage of Brussels 27 aug 2003 demo, AEL, Belgium
  • List of local campaign sites
• http://www.softwarepatents.co.uk/
• attac (Globalisation critics)
• W3C: Letter from Tim Berners-Lee to Rogan (about Eolas Plugin Patent):
• Code Liberty is a web site dedicated to the rights of software authors, and argues that patents are incompatible with the Berne Copyright Convention, and the WIPO and WTO treaties.
• Us action against Software patents
• Libro blanco del software libre FOSS situation in Spain
• Steven Young's legal advice