PARLIAMENT ACCEPTS HARMONISATION OF PATENTS FOR INVENTIONS USING SOFTWARE.

• Position: Brief Article

The numerous amendments made to the draft Directive on patentability of software, adopted by the European Parliament on September 24, seem to have reassured some of the initiative's opponents. "We are very happy, we could scarcely have asked for more," said Olivier Albiez, one of the co-ordinators of the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), which protested against the first version of the proposal for a Directive. According to FFII, the adopted text offers certain guarantees on the exclusion of software from patentability. On the other hand, EICTA, which represents manufacturers of information systems and electronic equipment, said it was "worried" by some of the amendments and urged the Council of Ministers to "remedy" the situation.

The...