EPLA gaining speed?
Discussions about EPLA are somewhat heating up. As far as it seems now, there will be a vote on that in mid-October, but at least there still is some discussion, quoting the title of a press note of Greens / EFA group in European Parliament: “Proposed patent litigation scheme would be a blow for Europe’s SMEs.” Nevertheless, patent lawyers EP members like Klaus-Heiner Lehne and Sharon Bowles still try to promote EPLA as “important for the competitiveness of Europe in the information age”. By now, I really would like to see some independent studies on that very issue, not heavily influenced by MEPs who would obviously benefit from more strict patent law… Is pushing forth your very own economic interests what you actually have been voted for?!
Meanwhile, slashdot reports that the number of software patents granted in the last year in the US of A has so far hit a new record high.