European Parliament Blocks Patent Liberalisation
News European software patents are difficult to enforce largely because of the differences between national patent laws, according to campaigners. Campaigners such as Mueller and the FFII, on the other hand, say that the reforms proposed so far have...
[March 16, 2006, 9:35]
IT Patent Issues Simplified For Businesses
News Currently national courts enforce different rules across the region. The revised European Patent Convention took effect this week, bringing in a system designed to substantially simplify patent issues for businesses, according to the European...
[December 14, 2007, 15:28]
Patent Injustice For Small Software Companies
News Once you've got it, you need to enforce it. Of the SMEs granted patents by the European Patent Office, 81 percent had only been granted a single patent over six years. Although this is an accusation that the UK patent office vigorously denies...
[June 29, 2005, 18:15]
Software Patent War Ignites Again
News They are currently difficult to enforce in many EU member states, something critics say would be changed by the failed software patent directive, and now by the EPLA. Patents on software are formally disallowed under the European patent system, but...
[September 21, 2006, 13:05]
BT's Attitude Is Unsurprising
Talkback Welcome sentiments from the company notorious not only for its singularly dubious hyperlink patent but for its attempts to actually enforce it. We have not encountered particular barriers obtaining IPRs in the UK because of system complexity...
[January 24, 2007, 12:52]
Linux Users Could Face European Patent Threat
News The difference is one of level and burden of proof, and effectively makes it harder to enforce the relevant patents," said Pearce. According to Katz, the European Patent Office has granted 431 patents to Microsoft, out of 4,341 applications.
[September 19, 2007, 17:34]
Patent Inspectors Strike Over Quality Fears
News In a 2004 survey of 1,300 EPO patent examiners, three-quarters of staff claimed productivity demands from managers did not allow them "to enforce the quality standards set by the European Patent Convention".
[May 10, 2006, 16:40]
Survey: European Patents Have Quality Problems
News The union survey, reported in Nature, found that three-quarters of staff agreed that productivity demands from EPO's managers do not allow them "to enforce the quality standards set by the European Patent Convention".
[June 8, 2004, 13:40]
