[E-Lang] [Fwd: [Freesw] [Fwd: software patents in Europe]]

[Ben Laurie]

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 > According to the (online) Wall Street Journal, the board of 
 > administration of the European Patents Office has voted to permit 
 > software patents, by a 10-9 vote.  Opposition to the change came from 
 > the Germans, the French, and the British; smaller countries, such as 
 > Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and Cyprus, supported it.  A German 
 > official is quoted as saying "We would have problems with the U.S.
 > tendency to patent everything that can be patented. That would stifle
 > innovation and cause a glut of litigation."
 > 
 > A final decision will be made in November.
 > 
 > 
 >                 --Steve Bellovin
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