The European Parliment has rejected the Patent Directive.

Because the EU Commission says that it will not reintroduce the proposal (for now), EU patent law thus will remain unharmonized. Software patents will remain officially not patentable, with the various patent offices sometimes granting them none-the-less. Copyright will remain the primary legal protection for software in Europe. It will be an ongoing experiment.

But I expect that difficulties with copyright protection for software, the lack of harmonization across the EU, and confusion in the various Patent Offices will bring this issue back to the table within a couple of years.

I am left with the impression that EU lawmaking is in a state of chaos--utterly unpredictable, not well informed, and susceptible to anti-big-business leanings not well rooted in reality. Even more so than lawmaking in the United States.

posted by Solveig Singleton @ 9:27 AM | International, Patents

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