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EU assembly throws out bill to harmonize patents By Huw Jones STRASBOURG, France (Reuters) - The European Parliament threw out on Wednesday a controversial bill to harmonize patents on software which big technology companies had sought to protect themselves. The assembly voted 648 to 14 to reject the bill backed by companies such as Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research), Nokia (NOK1V.HE: Quote, Profile, Research) and Siemens (SIEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) and by European Union governments, which saw it as a potential boost for technology investment. The move was an unprecedented muscle-flexing by the EU legislature, which has never before rejected a common position of the 25 member states. "This is one more milestone in the history of a parliament that is assuming its duties and carrying them out," Parliament President Josep Borrell told a news conference. The executive European Commission said it would respect the decision and not put forward fresh legislation in this area, but it warned the vote would cause fragmentation among 25 competing patenting systems in Europe and create uncertainty for business. As they voted to reject the bill, Green party members wore yellow T-shirts with 'No software patents' written on the front, and 'Power to the Parliament' on the back. They and free-software campaigners feared the Directive on the Patentability of Computer Impemented Inventions would close off innovation by allowing big firms to patent software that should be publicly available. "It's a third-class burial service with no flowers," Greens deputy Eva Lichtenberger told reporters just before the vote. The bill polarized the technology industry. Supporters of open-source or free software, including many small companies, had welcomed efforts by left-wing EU lawmakers to limit the types of inventions that can be patented. But big firms argued that the changes sought by EU lawmakers would have left their products open to copy-cat versions from China and elsewhere.
http://www.microsite.reuters.com
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