msgid "" "Europe's “Unitary Patent” Could Mean Unlimited Software Patents " "- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h2> msgid "Europe's “Unitary Patent” Could Mean Unlimited Software Patents" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "by Richard Stallman" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Just as the US software industry is experiencing <a " "href=\"https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/tal-when-patents-attack\">the " "long anticipated all-out software patent wars</a> that we have anticipated, " "the European Union has a plan to follow the same course. When the " "Hargreaves report urged the UK to avoid software patents, the UK had already " "approved plan that is likely to impose them on UK." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Software patents are dangerous to software developers because they impose " "monopolies on software ideas. It is not feasible or safe to develop " "nontrivial software if you must thread a maze of patents. See “<a " "href=\"/philosophy/software-literary-patents.html\">Software Patents and " "Literary Patents</a>.”" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Every program combines many ideas; a large program implements thousands of " "them. Google recently estimated there <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/aug/04/apple-patents-android-expensive-google\">might " "be 250,000 patented ideas</a> in a smartphone. I find that figure plausible " "because in 2004 I estimated that the GNU/Linux operating system implemented " "around 100,000 actually patented ideas. (Linux, the kernel, had been found " "by Dan Ravicher to contain 283 such ideas, and was estimated to be .25% of " "the whole system at the time.)" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The consequences are becoming manifest now in the US, but multinational " "companies have long lobbied to spread software patents around the world. In " "2005, the European Parliament took up the second reading of a directive that " "had been proposed by the European Commission to authorize software " "patents. The Parliament had previously amended it to reject them, but the " "Council of Europe had undone those amendments." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The Commission's text was written in a sneaky way: when read by laymen, it " "appeared to forbid patents on pure software ideas, because it required a " "patent application to have a physical aspect. However, it did not require " "the “inventive step,” the advance that constitutes a patentable " "“invention,” to be physical." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This meant that a patent application could present the required physical " "aspect just by mentioning the usual physical elements of the computer on " "which the program would run (processor, memory, display, etc.). It would not " "have to propose any advance in these physical elements, just cite them as " "part of the larger system also containing the software. Any computational " "idea could be patented this way. Such a patent would only cover software " "meant for running on a computer, but that was not much of a limitation, " "since it is not practical to run a large program by hand simulation." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "A massive grass-roots effort—the first one ever directed at convincing " "the European Parliament—resulted in defeat of the directive. But that " "does not mean we convinced half of Parliament to reject software patents. " "Rather, it seems the pro-patent forces decided at the last minute to junk " "their own proposal." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The volunteer activists drifted away, thinking the battle won, but the " "corporate lobbyists for software patents were paid to stay on the job. Now " "they have contrived another sneaky method: the “unitary patent” " "system proposed for the EU. Under this system, if the European Patent Office " "issues a patent, it will automatically be valid in every participating " "country, which in this case means all of the EU except for Spain and Italy." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "How would that affect software patents? Evidently, either the unitary patent " "system would allow software patents or it wouldn't. If it allows them, no " "country will be able to escape them on its own. That would be bad, but what " "if the system rejects software patents? Then it would be good—right?" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Right—except the plan was designed to prevent that. A small but " "crucial detail in the plan is that appeals against the EPO's decisions would " "be decided based on the EPO's own rules. The EPO could thus tie European " "business and computer users in knots to its heart's content." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The EPO has a vested interest in extending patents into as many areas of " "life as it can get away with. With external limits (such as national courts) " "removed, the EPO could impose software patents, or any other controversial " "kind of patents. For instance, if it chooses to decide that natural genes " "are patentable, as <a " "href=\"https://www.techdirt.com/2011/07/29/appeals-court-says-genes-are-patentable-because-theyre-separate-your-dna/\">a " "US appeals court just did</a>, no one could reverse that decision except " "perhaps the European Court of Justice." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "In fact, the EPO's decision about software patents has already been made, " "and can be seen in action. The EPO has issued tens of thousands of software " "patents, in contempt for the treaty that established it. (See “<a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20190120193501/https://webshop.ffii.org/\">Your " "web shop is patented</a>.”) At present, though, each state decides " "whether those patents are valid. If the unitary patent system is adopted and " "the EPO gets unchecked power to decide, Europe will get US-style patent " "wars." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The European Court of Justice ruled in March that a unitary patent system " "would have to be subject to its jurisdiction, but it isn't clear whether its " "jurisdiction would include substantive policy decisions such as “can " "software ideas be patented?” That's because it's not clear how the " "European Patent Convention relates to the ECJ." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "If the ECJ can decide this, the plan would no longer be certain " "disaster. Instead, the ball would be one bounce away from disaster. Before " "adopting such a system, Europe should rewrite the plan to make certain " "software is safe from patents. If that can't be done, the next best thing is " "to reject the plan entirely. Minor simplifications are not worth a disaster; " "harmonization is a misguided goal if it means doing things wrong everywhere." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The UK government seems to wish for the disaster, since <a " "href=\"https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20140603093549/http://www.ipo.gov.uk/commissairebarnier.pdf\">it " "stated in December 2010 [archived]</a> that it wanted the ECJ not have a say " "over the system. Will the government listen to Hargreaves and change its " "mind about this plan? Britons must insist on this." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "More information about the drawbacks and legal flaws of this plan can be " "found in <a href=\"https://www.unitary-patent.eu/\">unitary-patent.eu</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "You will note that the term “intellectual property” has not been " "used in this article. That term spreads confusion because it is applied to a " "dozen unrelated laws. Even if we consider just patent law and copyright law, " "they are so different in their requirements and effects that generalizing " "about the two is a mistake. Absolutely nothing in this article pertains to " "copyright law. To avoid leading people to generalize about disparate laws, I " "never use the term “intellectual property,” and I never miss it " "either." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "First published in <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/aug/22/european-unitary-patent-software-warning\"> " "<cite>The Guardian</cite></a>" msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't have notes. #. type: Content of: <div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S NOTES*" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a " "href=\"mailto:gnu@gnu.org\"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. There are also <a " "href=\"/contact/\">other ways to contact</a> the FSF. Broken links and " "other corrections or suggestions can be sent to <a " "href=\"mailto:webmasters@gnu.org\"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, #. replace it with the translation of these two: # #. We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality #. translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. #. Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard #. to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> # #. <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> # #. <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of #. our web pages, see <a #. href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations #. README</a>. #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please see the <a " "href=\"/server/standards/README.translations.html\">Translations README</a> " "for information on coordinating and contributing translations of this " "article." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Copyright © 2011, 2022 Richard Stallman" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This page is licensed under a <a rel=\"license\" " "href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons " "Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't want credits. #. type: Content of: <div><div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S CREDITS*" msgstr "" #. timestamp start #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Updated:" msgstr ""

# LANGUAGE translation of https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/europes-unitary-patent.html # Copyright (C) YEAR Free Software Foundation, Inc. # This file is distributed under the same license as the original article. # FIRST AUTHOR , YEAR. # #, fuzzy msgid "" msgstr "" "Project-Id-Version: europes-unitary-patent.html\n" "POT-Creation-Date: 2022-04-12 11:57+0000\n" "PO-Revision-Date: YEAR-MO-DA HO:MI+ZONE\n" "Last-Translator: FULL NAME \n" "Language-Team: LANGUAGE \n" "Language: \n" "MIME-Version: 1.0\n" "Content-Type: text/plain; charset=CHARSET\n" "Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit\n" #. type: Content of: msgid "" "Europe's “Unitary Patent” Could Mean Unlimited Software Patents " "- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><h2> msgid "Europe's “Unitary Patent” Could Mean Unlimited Software Patents" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><address> msgid "by Richard Stallman" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Just as the US software industry is experiencing <a " "href=\"https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/tal-when-patents-attack\">the " "long anticipated all-out software patent wars</a> that we have anticipated, " "the European Union has a plan to follow the same course. When the " "Hargreaves report urged the UK to avoid software patents, the UK had already " "approved plan that is likely to impose them on UK." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Software patents are dangerous to software developers because they impose " "monopolies on software ideas. It is not feasible or safe to develop " "nontrivial software if you must thread a maze of patents. See “<a " "href=\"/philosophy/software-literary-patents.html\">Software Patents and " "Literary Patents</a>.”" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Every program combines many ideas; a large program implements thousands of " "them. Google recently estimated there <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/aug/04/apple-patents-android-expensive-google\">might " "be 250,000 patented ideas</a> in a smartphone. I find that figure plausible " "because in 2004 I estimated that the GNU/Linux operating system implemented " "around 100,000 actually patented ideas. (Linux, the kernel, had been found " "by Dan Ravicher to contain 283 such ideas, and was estimated to be .25% of " "the whole system at the time.)" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The consequences are becoming manifest now in the US, but multinational " "companies have long lobbied to spread software patents around the world. In " "2005, the European Parliament took up the second reading of a directive that " "had been proposed by the European Commission to authorize software " "patents. The Parliament had previously amended it to reject them, but the " "Council of Europe had undone those amendments." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The Commission's text was written in a sneaky way: when read by laymen, it " "appeared to forbid patents on pure software ideas, because it required a " "patent application to have a physical aspect. However, it did not require " "the “inventive step,” the advance that constitutes a patentable " "“invention,” to be physical." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This meant that a patent application could present the required physical " "aspect just by mentioning the usual physical elements of the computer on " "which the program would run (processor, memory, display, etc.). It would not " "have to propose any advance in these physical elements, just cite them as " "part of the larger system also containing the software. Any computational " "idea could be patented this way. Such a patent would only cover software " "meant for running on a computer, but that was not much of a limitation, " "since it is not practical to run a large program by hand simulation." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "A massive grass-roots effort—the first one ever directed at convincing " "the European Parliament—resulted in defeat of the directive. But that " "does not mean we convinced half of Parliament to reject software patents. " "Rather, it seems the pro-patent forces decided at the last minute to junk " "their own proposal." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The volunteer activists drifted away, thinking the battle won, but the " "corporate lobbyists for software patents were paid to stay on the job. Now " "they have contrived another sneaky method: the “unitary patent” " "system proposed for the EU. Under this system, if the European Patent Office " "issues a patent, it will automatically be valid in every participating " "country, which in this case means all of the EU except for Spain and Italy." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "How would that affect software patents? Evidently, either the unitary patent " "system would allow software patents or it wouldn't. If it allows them, no " "country will be able to escape them on its own. That would be bad, but what " "if the system rejects software patents? Then it would be good—right?" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "Right—except the plan was designed to prevent that. A small but " "crucial detail in the plan is that appeals against the EPO's decisions would " "be decided based on the EPO's own rules. The EPO could thus tie European " "business and computer users in knots to its heart's content." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The EPO has a vested interest in extending patents into as many areas of " "life as it can get away with. With external limits (such as national courts) " "removed, the EPO could impose software patents, or any other controversial " "kind of patents. For instance, if it chooses to decide that natural genes " "are patentable, as <a " "href=\"https://www.techdirt.com/2011/07/29/appeals-court-says-genes-are-patentable-because-theyre-separate-your-dna/\">a " "US appeals court just did</a>, no one could reverse that decision except " "perhaps the European Court of Justice." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "In fact, the EPO's decision about software patents has already been made, " "and can be seen in action. The EPO has issued tens of thousands of software " "patents, in contempt for the treaty that established it. (See “<a " "href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20190120193501/https://webshop.ffii.org/\">Your " "web shop is patented</a>.”) At present, though, each state decides " "whether those patents are valid. If the unitary patent system is adopted and " "the EPO gets unchecked power to decide, Europe will get US-style patent " "wars." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The European Court of Justice ruled in March that a unitary patent system " "would have to be subject to its jurisdiction, but it isn't clear whether its " "jurisdiction would include substantive policy decisions such as “can " "software ideas be patented?” That's because it's not clear how the " "European Patent Convention relates to the ECJ." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "If the ECJ can decide this, the plan would no longer be certain " "disaster. Instead, the ball would be one bounce away from disaster. Before " "adopting such a system, Europe should rewrite the plan to make certain " "software is safe from patents. If that can't be done, the next best thing is " "to reject the plan entirely. Minor simplifications are not worth a disaster; " "harmonization is a misguided goal if it means doing things wrong everywhere." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "The UK government seems to wish for the disaster, since <a " "href=\"https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20140603093549/http://www.ipo.gov.uk/commissairebarnier.pdf\">it " "stated in December 2010 [archived]</a> that it wanted the ECJ not have a say " "over the system. Will the government listen to Hargreaves and change its " "mind about this plan? Britons must insist on this." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "More information about the drawbacks and legal flaws of this plan can be " "found in <a href=\"https://www.unitary-patent.eu/\">unitary-patent.eu</a>." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "You will note that the term “intellectual property” has not been " "used in this article. That term spreads confusion because it is applied to a " "dozen unrelated laws. Even if we consider just patent law and copyright law, " "they are so different in their requirements and effects that generalizing " "about the two is a mistake. Absolutely nothing in this article pertains to " "copyright law. To avoid leading people to generalize about disparate laws, I " "never use the term “intellectual property,” and I never miss it " "either." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "First published in <a " "href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/aug/22/european-unitary-patent-software-warning\"> " "<cite>The Guardian</cite></a>" msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't have notes. #. type: Content of: <div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S NOTES*" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please send general FSF & GNU inquiries to <a " "href=\"mailto:gnu@gnu.org\"><gnu@gnu.org></a>. There are also <a " "href=\"/contact/\">other ways to contact</a> the FSF. Broken links and " "other corrections or suggestions can be sent to <a " "href=\"mailto:webmasters@gnu.org\"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph, #. replace it with the translation of these two: # #. We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality #. translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection. #. Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard #. to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org"> # #. <web-translators@gnu.org></a>.</p> # #. <p>For information on coordinating and contributing translations of #. our web pages, see <a #. href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations #. README</a>. #. type: Content of: <div><div><p> msgid "" "Please see the <a " "href=\"/server/standards/README.translations.html\">Translations README</a> " "for information on coordinating and contributing translations of this " "article." msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Copyright © 2011, 2022 Richard Stallman" msgstr "" #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "" "This page is licensed under a <a rel=\"license\" " "href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/\">Creative Commons " "Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>." msgstr "" #. TRANSLATORS: Use space (SPC) as msgstr if you don't want credits. #. type: Content of: <div><div> msgid "*GNUN-SLOT: TRANSLATOR'S CREDITS*" msgstr "" #. timestamp start #. type: Content of: <div><p> msgid "Updated:" msgstr ""