New EU-Wide Patent System Approved 75
Dupple writes "There's a two page article over on IT World detailing a new patent system passed by the European Parliament that will unify the patent process across most countries in the EU. Quoting: 'Parliament adopted all three proposed regulations needed to form the new patent system on Tuesday: the regulation on a Unitary Patent, the language regime and the formation of a new unified patent court system. Not all European Union member states want a part in the new system: Italy and Spain refused to participate, although they may join at any time. The new system will cut the cost of obtaining a patent in the participating countries by up to 80 percent, the Parliament said. The patents will be made available in English, French and German and applications will have to be made in one of those three languages. Not everyone was pleased with the newly adopted regulation though. MEPs opposing the adopted text are concerned the new system is going to be bad for innovation and business, and by voting for the text, the Parliament is giving away powers, they said. The new regulation "means the European Parliament will abdicate all its political powers to an organization ... that is outside of the E.U.," said Christian Engström, Pirate Party member of parliament, adding that he still wanted a European patent as long as it did not hamper innovation as he believes the proposal in its current form does.'"
Let's socialize technology instead (Score:5, Interesting)
Here's an idea: All technology is property of the Government.
If you do something and decide to keep it trade-secret, the Government might decide it looks nice and they'll tear it down to figure out how it works, then publish it. If you submit it to the Government, they'll keep it secret. For like, 20 years. Worst of all, if the Government likes something and can't functionally figure it out, they might just show up and ask.
Patent submission is free. There is no patent court.
Re:rounded corners? (Score:4, Interesting)
Instead you need lawyers speaking in French, German and English. Which for Italian speaking inventors might be very expensive. Previously this wasn't required, because if someone wanted to have their patent valid in Italy, he had to translate it.
Patents on medicine and HIV cure (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:rounded corners? (Score:3, Interesting)
But there is a mention of a Pirate Party member being against it. I think this is a good indication that the change is not for the better.
I have nothing against the PP I think they (like many politicians) have genuinely good intentions but the reality is they are single issue ideolgical perfectionists just like their sworn enemies. It's said that "perfection is the enemy of progress", the fact that a PP politician doesn't like this new system does not really indicate that's it's any better or worse, it just indicates it doesn't perfectly align with his ideology. The majority of politicians who actually make the descisions are not single issue politicians, and they're anything but perfectionists.
Re:rounded corners? (Score:2, Interesting)
That's unfair. Many of the Pirate Parties are pretty damned flexible on the issues they care about and are generally not striving for an absolute extreme (such as abolishment of copyright law, patents, trademarks, and data protection laws). They may seem extreme because their ideal position is so far from the current state of affairs.
Example: If a major party decided to push for a reduction of copyright to, say, 40 years, I think they would receive a lot of support from the Pirate Party (who themselves would obviously prefer to see much less).