@utrcgw.utc.com:mark@ardnt1 (mark) (03/22/91)
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 91 07:39:41 EST From: glover (MARK GLOVER) To: mark Subject: forwarded message from gnulists Post this to the amiga groups?? ------- Start of forwarded message ------- From: gnulists <@utrcgw.utc.com:gnulists@ai.mit.EDU> Sender: gnu-misc-discuss-request <@utrcgw.utc.com:gnu-misc-discuss-request@cis.ohio-state.EDU> To: gnu-misc-discuss@cis.ohio-state.EDU Subject: More about the patent treaty Date: 20 Mar 91 05:18:12 GMT [Please repost this in any other lists, local or netwide, where it would be relevant and helpful. -len ] WIPO, a part of the United Nations, is working on a treaty to "harmonize US and European patent law". Article 10 of the proposed draft would require that there be patents in all fields of technology--which inevitably includes software. (This information comes from the Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society, Feb 1991, which contains the complete text of the treaty.) Since the US already has software patents, this would not directly change the situation here. However, it would have an important effect, because it would prevent any future move to eliminate software patents. Neither Congress nor the Supreme Court would have any say in the matter. However, another part of the treaty would have an immediate effect--it would make the situation worse. Article 11 weakens the criterion of unobviousness that a patent application must satisfy. Currently, the US Patent Office is supposed to reject patent applications for an idea that is an obvious combination of several well-known ideas--a "mosaic of references" to prior art. Article 11 explicitly forbids rejection using this criterion. This would cause an upsurge in the number of absurd patents, not just in software but in every field. Large companies would be most able to take advantage of the new rules, further increasing their power over small competitors. (You would generally expect negotiators to aim for a treaty that requires little change in their own country's system. However, the US negotiators pushed strongly for this part of Article 11. They thus attempt to push through a change in the laws of their own country, bypassing the usual legislative system.) For both of these reasons, it is vital to prevent the adoption of this treaty. If we can't stop it from being issued, we must try to prevent its ratification, in the US and in other countries separately. The treaty language is supposed to be finalized at a diplomatic conference in June. The principal ways Americans can influence the outcome are via the US administration and via the US Senate. (If the Senate makes it clear they wouldn't ratify the treaty, maybe the negotiators will do something different.) Writing a letter to your senators is a step in the right direction, but it's probably not enough. You probably need to get together with other programmers to form a group, and then arrange to meet with your senators' staff to discuss the problem. If you want to have an effect. If you don't want your career turned upside down. ------- End of forwarded message -------