Petition for stopping software patenting in Europe

“After the parliament rejected the Bolkestein directive on software patents, EU Commissioner McCreevy refused to propose a new directive prohibiting patent software. Instead, he stopped regulating financial markets. The European Patent Office ignored parliamentary requirements and continued to strengthen its software patent business. Today, we are faced with an unprecedented patent bubble of toxic software patents and business methods. Most patents are reserved for strategic purposes. These toxic agents do not give their holders significant benefits or any substantial licensing revenue. Large industry fears a patent inflation crisis, but marching to the sound of another drum seems too complicated. ”

The site where you can sign the petition provides an example of a regular online store that counted 20 violations of European patents, such as generating various web pages depending on the user's device — EP1320972 — and streaming video on demand — EP633694 .

At the time of publication, the petition has already collected 37 thousand signatures.