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[Sheflug] Patent office looking for input
Dear All
RMS asked me to send this in so that you can read it.....
Richard Stallman wrote:
It would be a good idea to circulate this to all the LUGs in the UK,
and make the greatest possible push against software patents.
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http://lwn.net/2000/1102/
U.K. Patent Office consultation on software patents. The U.K. Patent
Office has put up a request for comments on how software (and
business method) patents should be treated in the U.K. and
Europe. There is also some interesting information to be found in
there, including the fact that some 15% of all U.K. patents now are
"software-based."
They seem truly interested. "We want to know what you think about
this so that Government policy is evidence-based and relevant to
business, commerce, and consumers - in other words to you. So,
whether you are in the software industry, financial services, are a
software user, a consumer, or are otherwise interested, we want to
hear from you." The deadline for responses is December 15. (Thanks
to Alan Cox).
http://www.patent.gov.uk/snews/notices/softcons.html
Should Patents be Granted for Computer Software or Ways of Doing
Business?
What?s this about and why does it matter?
There is a big debate going on about whether software or ways of doing
business should be protectable by patents. In the United States they
generally are; in Europe, software can be patented only if it gives
rise to a "technical effect"and business methods as such cannot be
patented at all.
The UK software and computer services market is the second-largest in
Europe, worth £21 billion. There are over 105,000 companies operating
in this sector in the UK, including all the major global
players. Whether patents are available for a wider range of software
inventions or for business methods could have a fundamental effect on
innovation, enterprise and competition, on SMEs and larger companies,
on suppliers and consumers. And it could have a critical impact on the
UK?s ability to lead in the e-commerce revolution.
That is why this debate matters, and why Ministers have asked the
Patent Office to raise awareness, encourage discussion and collect
views - your views.
Tell us what you think
We want to know what you think about this so that Government policy
is
evidence-based and relevant to business, commerce, and consumers - in
other words to you. So, whether you are in the software industry,
financial services, are a software user, a consumer, or are otherwise
interested, we want to hear from you.
We would like you to consider and answer the following questions,
which deal separately with software and ways of doing business. But
please feel free just to tell us what you think in a different format
if that is easier for you.
Software
Q1. How does what you do involve using software?
For example, are you a programmer, a systems analyst, a business
person, an investor in e-commerce, or a home user?
Q2. Do you think software should be protectable by patents?
A lot of software already is: 15% of UK patents being granted now are
software-based. Any invention has to be new, not obvious, and useful
if it is to be patented. In Europe, a software-based invention not
only has to meet these criteria, it also has to give rise to a
technical effect. For example, a new and non-obvious program which
gave a computer more efficient memory usage and so enabled it to run
faster would be patentable because of the technical effect it has on
the operation of the computer. But a new program for a computer game
would not currently be patentable because it has no technical effect.
Do you think that this degree of patent protection for software is
about right? Or does it go too far, even with the requirement that
there should be some technical effect? Or do you think that any
software (that is new and non-obvious but regardless of any technical
effect) should be patentable?
Q3. Why do you say that? How do you think maintaining the current
position, or changing from it, would -
affect you or your business - positively or negatively? affect SMEs,
or other sectors of UK business and commerce? affect consumers?
promote or stifle innovation and enterprise? encourage or inhibit
competition?
Ways of doing business
Q4. Does what you do involve trade in services rather than products?
For example, are you concerned with market strategy, selling airline
tickets, in financial services, or a consumer of such things?
Q5. Do you think ways of doing business should be protectable by
patents?
A "way of doing business" might be a method for selling airline
tickets, a way of administering a pension scheme, or a way of
organising a staffing rota, for example. In the United Kingdom you
cannot get a patent for such things. Do you think that this is the
right position? Or do you think that a way of doing business (which
otherwise meets patenting criteria of being new and non-obvious)
should be patentable?
Q6. Why do you say that? How do you think maintaining the current
position, or changing from it, would -
affect you or your business - positively or negatively? affect SMEs,
or other sectors of UK business and commerce? affect consumers?
promote or stifle innovation and enterprise? encourage or inhibit
competition?
The Position in the United States
Q7. If you have any experience of the US position on patenting
software or business methods, how would you assess it?
In the United States, computer software and ways of doing business are
in general terms patentable. How has that impacted on you or your
business, and how has it shaped your views on what is best in this
area? How do you think the difference between the current US and
European positions affects the factors listed under Q6?
Need more information?
If you would like some more background information before responding,
you can get it by clicking here.
The European Commission?s Consultation
The European Commission is also consulting on these issues. It has
issued a Consultation Paper on The Patentability of
Computer-Implemented Inventions which is rather more complicated than
this document; it contains a lot of legal detail which we have
deliberately left out. If you would like to read the Commission?s
paper, it can be found at
http://europa.eu.int/comm/internal_market/en/intprop/indprop/index.htm*.
By all means reply to the Commission?s paper too, and copy what you
say to us so that we know what you think.
Openness
This is a public consultation exercise. As such, your comments will
also be made public unless you make clear in responding that you want
them to remain confidential. We shall be preparing a summary of
responses which will be publically available and will be sent to
people who have replied.
When should you reply?
The deadline for the European Commission?s consultation is 15 December
2000. We would very much like to hear from you before then, but any
responses after that date will also be welcome.
How to join in the debate
By e-mail, fax, letter or telephone to -
Jeff Watson Intellectual Property Policy Directorate The Patent Office
Concept House Cardiff Road Newport NP10 8QQ
Tel: 01633 813650 Fax: 01633 814922 e-mail: jwatson [at] patent.gov.uk
By joining our Newsgroup.
We have set up a Newsgroup so that you can exchange views with other
people online. To find out more, click here.
Comments about this consultation process
If you have any comments or complaints about how this consultation
process is being handled, please tell the Patent Office?s Consultation
Co-ordinator, who is -
Louise Smyth Consultation Co-ordinator The Patent Office Concept
House
Cardiff Road Newport NP10 8QQ
Tel: 01633 813784 Fax: 01633 814509 e-mail: louise.smyth [at] patent.gov.uk
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Hugo Gayosso
Support the Free Software
Support the GNU Project
http://www.gnu.org
http://hgayosso.linuxave.net
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--
Richard
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