Software Patent Directive Approved

by Ulrika Lomas, for LawAndTax-News.com, Brussels

09 March 2005

At a meeting of the Competitiveness Council in Brussels on Monday, the controversial Directive on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions (also known as the Software Patent Directive) was approved, to the dismay of small business groups, the European Parliament, and the various EU member states that had expressed objections to the the legislation in its current format.

The Legal Affairs Committee of European Parliament, responding to the groundswell of criticism being faced by the Directive, called on the EC to restart discussions on the matter on February 2. When this was ignored by the Commission, the decision was taken forward by the Parliamentary Conference of Presidents.

Following this, in a plenary session held last Thursday, the entire European Parliament approved a motion urging the EC to take action.

When it became clear that the regulatory body was determined to ignore the political will of the EP, several member states called for the status of the vote on the Directive to be changed to a 'B' item on the agenda of Monday's meeting, meaning that discussion of the matter would be possible.

However, the Luxembourg presidency of the EU announced that this would not be possible for procedural reasons.

The European Parliament now has three months in which to amend or reject the proposed legislation.

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