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Re: MP3 decoders' non-freeness



Alexandre Dulaunoy wrote:
> 	Software Patent is legal in some countries (like US and Japan) and 
> is illegal in Europe (in the article 52 of the Munich Convention). If you 
> care about Software Patents, you should take this point into consideration. 

You should also take into consideration that the ultimate interpretation
of article 52(2) and in particular its limitation given in 52(3) is
something for the national European courts. And it is not at all
clear whether all national European courts will follow this interpretation
of the EPC. 

In other words, even though you think that 52(2) and (3) can only
be explained one way, do not be surprised if national courts decide
otherwise. IIRC the UK courts routinely accept software-related
patents, and even the Germans often have no problems with this.

http://www.iusmentis.com/patents/software/epc/
http://www.softwareprotection.com/

Kind regards,

Arnoud Engelfriet

-- 
Arnoud Engelfriet, (almost) Dutch patent attorney - Speaking only for myself
Patents, copyright and IPR explained for techies:  http://www.iusmentis.com/



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