UK Small and Medium Enterprises welcome Liberal Democrat MEP Andrew Duff's call to action on EU Software Patents.
Andrew Duff has given his support to a new package of amendments to the Common Position of the Council of Ministers on the controversial directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions to stop the introduction of software patents to the European Union. Mr Duff's support has been strongly welcomed by trade organizations and industry bodies across the UK and Europe.
Aidan McGuire, of ZopeUK, said in a statement:
"We are delighted to see Mr Duff taking the initiative and supporting moves to thoroughly amend this controversial directive. This is an issue of great concern to SMEs and the economy of Europe as a whole. If software patents become the reality in Europe, then European software SMEs will be excluded from their home market by legal threats from larger foreign competitors. We fully support his stance."
MEPs will vote on the directive on 6 July, and the vote is likely to be close. The EPO has illegally granted 30000 software patents, most of which are held by US and Japanese companese. If the directive is passed without amendments, then these patents will become legally enforceable throughout the EU, making software development a legal minefield for SMEs. The European Parliamant should send a clear signal on 6 July that software patents should not be permitted in the EU.
