Questions to the Council about its "Statement of Reasons"

-> [ Council Reasoning 04-12-03 | Patent News ]

In December 2004, the Dutch Council Presidency provided a "statement of reasons" to justify the "Political Agreement" on software patents of May 2004. They say that the Parliament's substantial amendments were rejected because they deviate from established patent office practise or violate the TRIPs agreement. The objections are unspecific and seem to rely on long-refuted reasoning. They raise more questions than they answer. We try to collect these questions, hoping that the responsible people can be confronted with them somehow.