Consultation Paper on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions
In 2000, the European Commission published its Consultation Paper on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions - survey result showed that programmers were heavily against software patents.
According to Polish patent examiner Jozèf Halbersztadt,[1] and repeated on FFII's website, the responses to the consultation were 94% against software patents, rising to 95-99.5% for software developers, students, SMEs, and users, and falling to 33% for "IP professionals" (mostly probably patent lawyers), and 22% for governments.
The firm which conducted the study, PbT Consultants, said:
"PbT Consultants do not consider it reasonable to simply arithmetically aggregate the results. Rather, we feel it preferable to attempt to characterise the two viewpoints and leave it to the reader (and the politicians) to value the "weight" of the two points of view."[2]
But the numbers don't seem contested. (If anyone has links or information of criticism of Halbersztadt's numbers, please add it here.)
Related pages on ESP Wiki
External links
- http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/indprop/comp/replies_en.htm
- http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/indprop/comp/analyses_en.htm
- http://eupat.ffii.org/vreji/papri/eukonsult00/
