Software patent directive back in motion

The European Parliament re-opened the debate on the future of the EU's directive on software patents, last week. Arguments for and against the bill took the lines we have come to expect from each side: the pro-patent lobby arguing that the directive merely formalises the status quo, and the anti-patent contingent arguing that patenting software is like trying to patent music or mathematics.

According to Florian Muller, ex-head of anti-patent group No Software Patents, told us: 'The first debate in the Legal Affairs Committee on Thursday showed that the official rapporteur on this directive, Michel Rocard MEP (a former prime minister of France), and various other MEPs really want to help and restrict the scope of patentability but they face stiff opposition.'

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