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07/03/05
Council's Decision Supports UK Hi-tech Innovation
Intellect has today welcomed the decision of the European Council to adopt a Common Position on the proposed EU Directive on the Patentability of Computer-implemented Inventions (CII).
Intellect's Director General, John Higgins, said, "The Common Position is a carefully balanced solution which takes into account the European Parliament's call for strict limitations to ensure that patentability cannot extend into non-technical areas or unduly hinder interoperability in our increasingly networked society. It will not enlarge the scope of what is currently patentable in Europe, only clarify it. Importantly, patents for pure software and for business, mathematical and other methods are clearly excluded, which is the outcome for which opponents of the directive have also been calling."
"The decision taken by the Council today keeps the proposed Directive on track for adoption in second reading in 2005, and is strongly welcomed by Intellect's members . A negative result would have left UK's individual inventors, SMEs and large multinationals, uncertain whether they could protect their inventions, undermining the incentives to undertake R&D, and creating a climate adverse to technology transfer. This is a situation which would put UK businesses at a distinct disadvantage within the global knowledge-driven economy, and one which Intellect and its members are determined to avoid."
One such member, supporting the Councils' decision, is TTPCom, an SME based in Melbourn, Hertfordshire (http://www.ttpcom.com/; LSE TTC). Tony Milbourn, managing director of the company, said, "Today, the technology that we develop for wireless terminals can be implemented as either hardware or software or a combination of the two. Provided that the invention meets the usual criteria – novelty, inventiveness, and technical contribution - the choice of how to implement it should be open, and we should be able to obtain patent protection for our innovations when it is appropriate. We believe that this will be increasingly important for growing companies like TTPCom who supply technology worldwide, and we fully support the proposed European legislation." Background and Further Information For further information, i.e. economic analysis, inventor reports and SME CII case studies please visit: http://www.patents4innovation.org/ About TTPCom TTPCom is a leading global supplier of technology for digital wireless phones. Started in the UK in 1988, it now employs over 550 staff in the UK, Denmark, France, China, Korea, Japan, Singapore and the USA. TTPCom floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2000 (code TTC). In 2003, about 35 million of more than half a billion GSM handsets that were manufactured globally incorporated TTPCom technology, and the Company gained a Queen's Award for International Trade.
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