CCIA Warns of Americanization of European Patent System

[Rui Miguel Seabra]

Computer & Communications Industry Association
US Phone: 202.783.0070 Fax: 202.783.0534
www.ccianet.org



For Immediate Release
June 30, 2005

For further information contact:

Ed Black
President & CEO, CCIA
eblack  ccianet.org
Office: 202-783-0070
Mobile: 202-297-2242

Will Rodger
Director of Public Policy
wrodger  ccianet.org
Office: 202-783-0070 x 105

CCIA Warns of Americanization of European Patent System

With the European Parliament poised to vote on the controversial 
software patent directive, Ed Black, President & CEO of the Computer & 
Communications Industry, today warned of the “Americanization� of the 
European patent system.

“Supporters of the Council’s Common Position argue that the directive 
would draw the line against software patents,� Black said, “but you only 
have to look at the Commission’s original case for the directive (the 
1997 Green Paper and the 1999 Communication) to see that the directive 
was motivated by a misguided desire to emulate the U.S. patent system

He added: “Look who is supporting the directive: the most dominant 
software companies and the trade associations they fund.� He noted that 
SAP, the dominant European business software company, just published a 
full-page ad in European Voice, urging the Parliament to support the 
Council’s Common Position.

“What few in Europe realize,� he said, “is that a fierce struggle over 
patent reform is taking place before the U.S. Congress. In recent years 
many corporate stakeholders, entrepreneurial inventors and consumer 
groups have come to understand that the US system is seriously broken, 
especially in the software/ICT areas. The ICT sector is pitted against 
drugs and biotechnology. Software suffers the worst failings of an 
inflated patent system, with the fewest benefits.�

Although the European Patent Convention supposedly does not allow 
patents on computer programs as such, the European Patent Office has, 
nevertheless, issued some 30,000 to 50,000 patents, the vast majority to 
firms outside of Europe. The European Parliament passed numerous 
amendments on the first reading of the Directive that wisely limited 
patents to conventional material inventions (although software could be 
a part of the invention). However, the Council reasserted the 
Commission’s version of the directive.

Said Black: “It makes no sense to validate the enormous volume of 
patents just because the EPO issued them to those who asked for them. If 
the Directive is not appropriately modified, it will result in an 
explosion of software patents and a restraint on truly valuable 
innovation. Software patents will not increase the innovation efforts of 
software companies. However, it will benefit some large companies 
amassing huge patent portfolios, “patent trolls,� and all lawyers. But 
they create many losers, not only among developers and contractors, but 
also all the way down the value chain to major IT users and consumers. 
Until the problem of sky-high administrative and transaction costs of 
the patent can be resolved and the additional problems peculiar to 
software can be addressed, nobody should contemplate making development 
of good software more difficult, costly, and uncertain than it already is.�

On Wednesday, the Parliament once again faces a vast array of proposed 
amendments. Black commented, “MEPs face conflicting evidence and wildly 
inconsistent advice from lobbyists and fellow MEPs. Unfortunately, the 
Commission did not do its job in analyzing and framing the problem. This 
is not just about patents, this is about the future of software, the 
nature of innovation and competition in the knowledge economy, and the 
future of the information society.�

CCIA’s analysis, Drawing the Line(s) in the Debate over Software 
Patents, was issued last week. It is available on the CCIA website at 
http://ccianet.org/papers/Patent%20rpt.pdf


###

CCIA is an international, nonprofit association of computer and 
communications industry firms, representing a broad cross section of the 
industry. CCIA is dedicated to preserving full, free and open 
competition throughout its industry. Our members employ nearly a million 
workers and generate annual revenues in excess of $250 billion.


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