Europe’s governments have reached agreement on an EU software patent despite concerns over the legislation’s impact on business.
The controversial rules – which critics argue could hit competition in Europe’s €1 billion software market – are now set for a battle in the European Parliament.
National capitals have buried differences over the EU patent law in spite of lingering concerns that small or medium sized software firms could lose.
Poland, with some support in Hungary, Latvia, and the Netherlands, has ended deadlock, leaving MEPs set to raise concerns in a second parliament reading.
Warsaw has blocked progress on the patent claiming that the rules will damage Polish business – fears that will surface when parliament debates the legislation again.
On a first reading MEPs tried to limit the impact of the EU patent on software by restricting its scope to computer-related inventions.
The 'Computer Implemented Inventions Directive' is regarded in Brussels as a key test for future competitiveness.
"The European Commission warmly welcomes the political agreement," said a spokesman on Monday."
Er, provided that this message is right, does that mean that those anti-patent campaigners have been fooled by the EU Council's administration in view of today's agenda for the 2635th meeting of the Council of the European Union in its Agriculture and Fisheries configuration? Or is it simply a fake message?
[UPDATE_0] 2004-01-24 16:03 Ok., just now they have withdrawn their report:
"CORRECTION: Europe’s governments have not reached an expected agreement on an EU software patent amid continuing concerns over the legislation’s impact on business. [...]"
"[...] An EU Council spokeswoman said on Monday that the Computer Implemented Inventions Directive (CIID), which many say will allow widespread software patenting in Europe, is likely to be ratified on 31 January. [...]"
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Dipl.-Phys. Axel H Horns is Patentanwalt (German Patent Attorney),
European Patent Attorney as well as European Trade Mark Attorney. In particular, he is Member of:
www.eupolitix.com 
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