EU Software Patent Law Rejected

Striking down a controversial proposal that would have made it possible to patent software, the European Parliament on Wednesday voted 648 to 14 to reject legislation that had been backed by several technology companies. Microsoft, Nokia and Siemens had all expressed support for the bill, as well as some governments of the European Union.

The bill also marked the first time in the Parliament's history that it had rejected a common position of the governments of the EU. The software patent law was originally passed by the EU Council in March, despite public opposition and objections from Denmark, Poland and Portugal.

"This is one more milestone in the history of a parliament that is assuming its duties and carrying them out," Josep Borrell, president of the Parliament told reporters.

Backers of the software patent law said they would respect the decision of the body and not reintroduce legislation, although they expressed their displeasure with the vote.

A vote in the affirmative would have standardized the laws for patenting software, they say, rather than a "fragmented" system where 25 different organizations are competing.

The EU Parliament had attempted to modify the bill into something that would have been more agreeable to all; however, the absolute majority required could not be obtained. It was then decided that the bill should be killed.

Support and opposition for the legislation seemed to fall down the normal lines of opposition in the industry. Small firms and supporters of open-source were against the bill and in favor of limiting what could be patented. Larger firms, on the other hand, supported the bill saying it protected them from companies who steal code to make nearly identical versions of their programs.