Fabian Greffrath schreef: > ... > > Furthermore, there is nothing that might hold users back from using > this software in Europe, because IIRC software patents do not exist on > this continent. > > ... This is not entirely true. Software patents do exist in Europe, though unlike in the U.S. they're not centrally regulated for all member states. Meaning while some piece of software might be patentable in one member state it doesn't have to be so in another. Then secondly there is another case where software "solves a technical problem as opposed to just a business problem" which *is* regulated centrally in Europe. This latter case is described quite thoroughly in these Wikipedia articles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_patent#Europe and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_patents_under_the_European_Patent_Convention (the first being the shortest and least elaborate version). -- Giel
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