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Confident that EU patent law won't pass

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jasonlane:
*** sorry this post should be here, can someone move it please ***

EU patents law

I e-mailed a few of my local MEP's (Minister of European Parliament) of the issue of patent change in the EU. Here's their response.

I'm happy at least that at least some of them aren't in the dark about this, which gives me confidence. This law must not be allowed to pass.

   
quote:

flap:

quote:Patenting software is as absurd as patenting a novel or a recipe.
--- End quote ---


Actually it's more absurd than patenting a novel (which wouldn't really be harmful) or recipe - it's more analogous to patenting a general scenario that could appear in a novel, or the mere use of a specific combination of ingredients in a recipe.

jasonlane:
Absolutely.

Who was that company that last year? They trying to extort money out of e-commerce sites, because they said they had patented e-commerce! For crying out loud!

Was there an outcry to this when the law was passed in the US???

Stryker:

quote:Originally posted by flap:


Actually it's more absurd than patenting a novel (which wouldn't really be harmful) or recipe - it's more analogous to patenting a general scenario that could appear in a novel, or the mere use of a specific combination of ingredients in a recipe.
--- End quote ---


i dont really agree. If I were to write a book about the civil war, nobody else could because it was my idea? I dont see the difference in software. If I were to write a program that detect what hardware devices i have, nobody else could? It gets way too basic.

Or am I missing something?

flap:
No, I'm saying that if you patented the specific novel you wrote, it would only mean that no-one else could write the exact same book. It wouldn't stop other people from writing books about the civil war. This restriction is already provided by copyright anyway so it wouldn't make much of a difference. Similarly, if someone patented an entire piece of software, this would only prevent other people from writing the exact same program.

The problem with software patenting is that it covers arbitrary combinations of obvious features, not entire programs. It would be like an author, rather than patenting an entire novel about the civil war, patenting a vague idea used in his book such as a plot device, or a storyline. Or, using the recipe example, it would be like patenting the use of chocolate chips, marzipan and butter in the same recipe.

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