From:	 sf@fermigier.com
To:	 lwn@lwn.net
Subject: EuroLinux Seminar on Software Patents
Date:	 Thu, 28 Jun 2001 11:22:26 +0200 (CEST)

                    EuroLinux Seminar on Software Patents

                    15 years of software patent practise 
           at the European Patent Office Stuttgart, 5th July 2001

   EuroLinux Alliance (petition.EuroLinux.org)

   For immediate Release

   Munich, Paris. 2001-06-27. FFII, ENEF.org - a European association of
   Internet startup companies, EuroLinux and VoV - the Internet section of
   the German social democrat party, will organise on July 5th at LinuxTag in
   Stuttgart a seminar to study the concept of the technical invention in the
   European patent system.

   http://swpat.ffii.org/penmi/linuxtag-2001/

   Recently the patentability of software and business methods has become a
   subject of an intense public debate with expert input from a wide range of
   fields, including engineering, informatics, law, economics and philosophy.
   At the core of this debate lies the distinction between matter-based
   "technical inventions" and mind-based "rules of organisation and
   calculation". This requirement of "technicity", in its original meaning,
   leads to the exclusion of software and intangible services from
   patentability. The notion of technicity, in its recent meaning defined by
   judges at the European Patent Office, leads to the patentability of
   software and intangible services and to a de facto limitless patent
   system.

   The seminar will study the evolution of the meaning of technicity in the
   last 15 years. Participants include lawyers, software specialists,
   representatives of professional associations, politicians, civil servants
   and researchers.

   The seminar will be organised at LinuxTag in Germany, one of the most
   active market for free/opensource software in Europe. LinuxTag is the
   biggest Linux exhibition in the world. Free software is actively supported
   by the German governments which sponsors projects such a GPG as well as
   the Berlios opensource software portal (http://www.berlios.de).

Registration

   If you want to participate, please contact linuxtag-2001@ffii.org.

About EuroLinux - www.EuroLinux.org

   The EuroLinux Alliance for a Free Information Infrastructure is an open
   coalition of commercial companies and non-profit associations united to
   promote and protect a vigourous European Software Culture based on Open
   Standards, Open Competition, Linux and Open Source Software. Companies
   members or supporters of EuroLinux develop or sell software under free,
   semi-free and non-free licenses for operating systems such as Linux, MacOS
   or Windows.

   The EuroLinux Alliance launched on 2000-06-15 an electronic petition to
   protect software innovation in Europe. The EuroLinux petition has received
   so far massive support from more than 80.000 European citizens, 2000
   corporate managers and 300 companies.

   The EuroLinux Alliance has co-organised in 1999, together with the French
   Embassy in Japan, the first Europe-Japan conference on Linux and Free
   Software. The EuroLinux Alliance is at the initiative of the
   www.freepatents.org web site to promote and protect innovation and
   competition in the European IT industry.

   Press Contacts

   France & Europe: Stefane Fermigier sf@fermigier.com +33-6 63 04 12 77
   Germany & Europe: Harmut Pilch phm@ffii.org +49-89 127 89 608
   Denmark and Northern Europe: Anne O/stergaard aoe@sslug.dk
   Belgium: Nicolas Pettiaux nicolas.pettiaux@linuxbe.org

   Permanent URL for this PR

   http://petition.EuroLinux.org/pr/pr12.html
   http://petition.EuroLinux.org/pr/pr12.pdf

Legalese

   Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.
   All other trademarks and copyrights are owned by their respective
   companies.