#title: Technology policy in the telecommunication sector -- Market responses and economic impacts #descr: A report issued by the European Commission, prepared by Heli Koski, ETLA, the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, and the London School of Economics. It studies the current situation of the European telecommunication enterprises and concludes with a warning against harmful effects of recent extensions of patentability on this sector. #ssa: The European Commission (CEC)'s Directorate General for Enterprises (DG Enterprise) has published a study which dwells extensively on the effects of software patents in particular in the telecommunication sector #vri: Overview #rum: A report issued by the European Commission, prepared by Heli Koski, ETLA, the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, and the London School of Economics. It studies the current situation of the European telecommunication enterprises and concludes with a warning against harmful effects of recent extensions of patentability on this sector. #rum2: A report issued by the European Commission, prepared by Heli Koski, ETLA, the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, and the London School of Economics. It studies the current situation of the European telecommunication enterprises and concludes with a warning against harmful effects of recent extensions of patentability on this sector. #wAr: The Study was written by a scientist from %(ETLA) and %(LSE) and is available for download at %(URL). #etw: On pages 28/29 the study discusses patents and copyrights. It finds that patents are generally granted for technical inventions and criticises the extension of patentability to areas where previously only copyright was available. #WlW: Thus the study almost incidentally hits a central point of the debate which we can summarise as follows #aor: Many patent claims cover very general ideas #Why: Many unsuspicious debatants such as %(ZVEI) have found that the concept of invention has been softened and have expressed concern about the %(cb:CEC/BSA directive proposal)'s tendency to codify and reinforce this development. #iie: The debate is suffering from the fact that terms such as %(q:technical contribution) are understood in very different ways by the debatants. #Wix: The study ends on page 33/34 with the following %(c:Conclusions) #aiw: Highly tentative conclusions that can be made based on the literature    suggest that stronger patent rights may create substantial problems    in the telecommunication sector. First, strong patent rights may    cause %(q:patent portfolio race). In other words, companies may use    patents primarily not to protect their technological invention    itself but as instruments with which to trade in order to be able    to negotiate access to external technologies. Given the observed    entry deterrence strategies of the incumbents, stronger patent rights    might provide with them new powerful weapons to defend monopolistic    market positions. Thus, stronger patent rights may hinder the    development of effective competition in the telecommunication    markets. Patentability of principles or ideas might further result in    strategic patenting against compatibility. This could be particularly    lethal to the content industry and further to the markets of the    future generations of cellular mobile telephones and services.    Currently available empirical evidence does not allow us to make    definite conclusions. However, it suggests that strengthening of    patent rights in the communication sector or extending patent    protection to cover intellectual property currently protected by    copyright involves great potential risks. #ter: The study also criticses the Community Patent and tendencies for a centralised European patent system as measures which are conducive to the worrisome %(q:stronger patent rights). #yWW: The risks caused by an excessively broad patenting of software are reinforce by a future Community Patent. One could also count the efforts at building a %(up:Universitarian Patent System) and Basel II among the strengthening factors. # Local Variables: ; # coding: utf-8 ; # srcfile: /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/phm/app/swpat/swpatpapri.el ; # mailto: mlhtimport@ffii.org ; # login: phm ; # passwd: YYYYY ; # feature: ffiirc ; # dok: cec-telecom02 ; # txtlang: xx ; # End: ;