Software Patents in Western Europe :: Software Technology Patent Paperes

Software Patents in occidental atomic number 63IntroductionThe orbit is becoming baseborner and smaller. Its a catch-line clich anyone who is familiar with the internet has heard a thousand times. Email provides tight instant communication across the globe, massive files containing every imaginable fix of information are transmitted in the blink of an eye, and the World immense Web makes it all accessible to the common individual with moderate electronic computer skills. There is no denying it, just like the IBM slogan, the internet has changed the way the world does business. One key to doing business is the patent. Meant to reward and encourage innovation, the patent gives the cleric of an idea or invention a temporary monopoly on their product. This grants small businesses a foothold in a market that would other(a)wise be dominated by giant corporations. Thus patents give life to competition, the keister of capitalism. However, with the advent of the computer ind ustry the issue of patenting packet programs has become an concentrated debate. These intangible sequences of ones and zeros are coveted like gold and in near cases are the very livelihood of numerous businesses.The State of Affairs in Western atomic number 63There are two camps in Europe battling out the issue of software patents. On one military position we admit Brussels technocrats and technology giants such as Microsoft, SAP, and Nokia, all of which insist that Europe must do more to protect intellectual property or risk compromising its global competitiveness.1 The basic argument of this side is that patents are necessary if Europe wants to compete with U.S. and Chinese innovation. On the other side of the debate there is an army of economists, left-leaning politicians, and programmers such as Linux nobleman Linus Torvalds1 who present the argument that software patents are a creativity-crushing tool wielded by multinationals to bash startups.1 The open-source comm unity, which produces software without patents for all spate to use, is particularly strong in Europe. It is their opinion that software patents put programs down the stairs lock and key and they would like to see Europe reject software patents completely.For the past two years the European Union has been working to change its existing patent laws while balancing the sometimes conflicting requirements of its 15 members. However, the process was upended in September when the European Parliament -- below heavy last-minute lobbying by open-source advocates -- unexpectedly approved a draft law that effectively banned all software patents.