FFII: Software Patent Events 2004

Upcoming Events
Overview
Council meetings
European Parliament
WIPO
Exhibitions, Conferences
National Activities
FFII General Assemblies
IRC meetings
Questions, Things To Do, How you can Help
Annotated Links

Upcoming Events

event	when	where	days left	registered participants

FFII Event Planning: FFII Events are now collectively planned on this Plone site, opened on 2004-01-07 with help of Vrijschrift in Holland.

Overview

2004-11-09..11 Brussels: Regulating Knowledge -- Costs, Risks and Models of Innovation:: On 9-10 November of 2004, FFII and others are organising a conference on the software patent directive proposal and related issues in and near the European Parliament in Brussels.
Legislation Benchmarking Conference Brussels 2004/04/28-9:: FFII is organising a conference in Brussels in April which will scrutinise current proposals for legislation on the limits of patentability with regard to software, measuring their effect on sample patents and model cases.
CeBit 2004-03-18..24:: Europe's largest data processing trade fair is taking place again in Hannover from 18th to 24th of March. Like in 2003, FFII will be present with a booth and some events to inform about its activities.
Systems 2004-10-18..22:: The second largest german IT trade fair takes place in Munich from 18th to 22th of October. We hope to be present with a booth and some events to inform about its activities.
comtec:
Linuxtag 2004:: One of Europe's largest open source / free software events is taking place in Karlsruhe in June/July 2004. We will use the opportunity to inform the community about the remaining software patent dangers.
Fosdem 2004-02-21..2:: One of Europe's largest open source / free software events is taking place in Brussels on 21st and 22nd February 2004. We will use the opportunity to inform the floss community about the remaining software patent dangers.
FLOSS Telephony Summit 2004/01/19-20:: Organised by GUUG in Geilenkirchen near Aachen. FFII sees this as an opportunity to learn and inform about telephony patents and to get expert help in this field. Therefore we are present with a booth.
WIPO 2004-05-10..4 Geneva Patent Policy Session:: The World Intellectual Property Organisation's Standing Committee on Patent Law is meeting in Geneva for a week to work on the draft Substantive Patent Law Treaty. This treaty aims to mandate worldwide unlimited patentability while imposing strict limitations on patent quality. Not all governments are happy with this attempt at bypassing democracy in areas where fundamental freedoms are concerned. WIPO should act as a standardising agency and not as a world legislator on substantive patent law. FFII plans to spread the word in Geneva and in the participating countries. We will be one of very few NGOs who are not pushing for extension of right-holder interests.
Local Action Days 2004/05/08-12:: FFII and partners hope to organise a series of events in capitals of EU member states and elsewhere in order to raise awareness about the secret decisionmaking on software patents by national ministerial bureaucrats in the EU Council. The events will take part during the days from the weekend of May 8-9, including "Day of Europe" 9, up to the following Wednesday 12. They will be accompanied by a net strike.
Parliamentary Evening Berlin 2004-03-10:: The patent policy makers of the federal government continue making efforts to keep their absolute rule over legislation in the domain of patent law and to use it for the benefit of the patent lawyers guild. If the federal ministry of justice does not receive public written guidelines from higher authority, it will continue to work towards unlimited patentability from within back rooms in Brussels while at the same time producing appeasing but empty phrases as information about its policies. The FFII invites to an event on Wednesday, March 10, 2004, in Berlin, in order to look for ways to work out those guidelines.
Parliamentary Evening Berlin 2004-01-28:: The patent policy makers of the federal government continue making efforts to keep their absolute rule over legislation in the domain of patent law and to use it for the benefit of the patent lawyers guild. If the federal ministry of justice does not receive public written guidelines from higher authority, it will continue to work towards unlimited patentability from within back rooms in Brussels while at the same time producing appeasing but empty phrases as information about its policies. The FFII invites to an event on Wednesday, January 28, 2004, in Berlin, in order to look for ways to work out those guidelines.
UCL 2003/03/11-3: Patents, Innovation and Public Interest:: A three-day conference which aims to assess the public utility of the patent system with special attention to the fields of genetics and software, organised by the department for technology and law of the Catholic University of Louvain/Leuwen near Brussels. FFII/Eurolinux is present with two speakers. The majority of speakers are law experts and patent professionals, but there may be enough specialists in economics and in the patented fields to make sure that the public utility of the patent system is not taken for granted by this conference.

Council meetings

The Irish presidency has published its provisional agendas for ministerial meetings:

Irish presidency: Provisional agendas for ministerial meetings: "Political agreement" on the software patents directive is scheduled as item 8 on the provisional agenda for the Competitiveness Council on 17-18 May (top of page 11), but does not appear on the schedule for the 11 March meeting. What is on the schedule for March is political agreement on the IP enforcement directive. There is also activity planned for both meetings on the Community Patent, with an EU regulation on the Community Patent scheduled for agreement in March, and the establishment of the Community Patent Court apparatus scheduled for May.
Parliamentary Answer on Irish Presidency schedule: document from 2003/10, contains hints on the Presidency schedule, correspondes to an MSWord document found on the presidency website.
irelandpresidency.doc: The Irish EU Council presidency published its preliminary schedule in MSWord format in october 2003.

The Irish EU Council Presidency is working from January to June 2004 according to the following schedule:

when what Our activity

2004-01-29 EU Council 2004 Proposal on Software Patents

2004-03-02 Patent Working Party Meeting

2004-03-11 Competitiveness Council formal meeting (Brussels) -- Patent Policy Working Party may try to prepare an agreement. Possibly small scale "working party" counter-event in/near EP

2004-03-25..6 European Council (ie Heads of Government) Possibly counter-event

2004-04 Informal meeting of Competitiveness Ministers (Co. Clare, Ireland) -- final attempt to get agreement on various items ready by May, in case previous attempts failed.

2004-04-14 Legislation Benchmarking Conference Brussels 2004/04/28-9

2004-05-17..8 Competitiveness Council formal meeting (Brussels), Swpat directive on the agenda. Possibly a counter-event

when	what	Our activity
2004-01-29	EU Council 2004 Proposal on Software Patents
2004-03-02	Patent Working Party Meeting
2004-03-11	Competitiveness Council formal meeting (Brussels) -- Patent Policy Working Party may try to prepare an agreement.	Possibly small scale "working party" counter-event in/near EP
2004-03-25..6	European Council (ie Heads of Government)	Possibly counter-event
2004-04	Informal meeting of Competitiveness Ministers (Co. Clare, Ireland) -- final attempt to get agreement on various items ready by May, in case previous attempts failed.
2004-04-14		Legislation Benchmarking Conference Brussels 2004/04/28-9
2004-05-17..8	Competitiveness Council formal meeting (Brussels), Swpat directive on the agenda.	Possibly a counter-event

The relevant ministry in charge will be the ministry for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, headed by deputy prime minister Ms. Mary Harney.

The May meeting is the last date for Ireland to be able to claim the credit for any agreement, so the goal of the presidency will probably be to push for achievments on as many dossiers as possible by then.

If possible, they will try to get the agreement "banked" in March, to clear the agenda; the March meeting will also consider what broad strategy and other documents in the area of Competitiveness can be prepared that the heads of government can discuss at the end of March.

Given that the Intellectual Property Working Party (group of national patent experts from patent office circles) has apparently already had two "very productive" meetings (as some insiders say -- minutes of these meetings are not available), they may feel that March 11th is entirely possible to adopt a finalised Council common text for the directive. The Irish Presidency's circulation of a Compromise Paper on 04-01-29 confirms this expectation.

European Parliament

Elections are on June 10.

On Apr 7-9 MEPs are supposed to be at home in their electoral districts.

Candidates will become known in January, election platforms and programs probably by February. E.G. the Greens are deciding on IT-related program statements at their meeting on February 21-22 in Rome.

In january and february there will be some debate and decision about the IP Enforcement Directive. Thereafter, debates will be overshadowed by the elections.

Europarl Plenary Meeting Schedule 2004: Strasburg session weeks marked red: 01/12-15; 02/9-12; 03/8-11, 29-1; 04/19-22; 05/3-8; 06/10-13; 07/20-23; 09/13-16, 29-30; 10/25-28; 11/15-18; 12/13-16

Our permanent Brussels/Strasburg representative Erik Josefsson will arrive in late December and prepare the ground for people who want to fly to Brussels for a week / a few days of work, for which we pay the costs. Erik will be working on a citizen's guide to influencing the elections and EU politics in general.

Our Legislation Benchmarking Conference will be near the Parliament. Panels will be presided by MEPs.

Freedom of Information Infrastructures will be a subject in the election campaign.

Erik will help set up meetings that try to open up the secrecy of the Council "patent expert" meetings and get more people involved in a discussion near the site.

The reelected parliament will face the Council's decision in a second reading and the Council patent lawyers should see that it will not make life easier for them than the previous one.

WIPO

WIPO Conferences: Contains some info about upcoming events.
WIPO 2004-05-10..4 Geneva Patent Policy Session: The World Intellectual Property Organisation's Standing Committee on Patent Law is meeting in Geneva for a week to work on the draft Substantive Patent Law Treaty. This treaty aims to mandate worldwide unlimited patentability while imposing strict limitations on patent quality. Not all governments are happy with this attempt at bypassing democracy in areas where fundamental freedoms are concerned. WIPO should act as a standardising agency and not as a world legislator on substantive patent law. FFII plans to spread the word in Geneva and in the participating countries. We will be one of very few NGOs who are not pushing for extension of right-holder interests.

Exhibitions, Conferences

When	Where	Event	FFII role	in charge
2004/01/19-20	DE near Aachen Geilenkirchen	FLOSS Telephony Summit	We can have a booth and distribute materials. This is an opportunity for learning more about the telecommunication field, in which patent-based business models are more strongly entrenched than in the PC or server software field.
2004/02/21-2	BE Brussels	FOSDEM 2004	This is mainly an opportunity to inform supporters and recruit helpers. A speech/workshop time would have to be determined now.
2004/03/18-24	DE Hannover	CeBit	Probably Europe's largest IT fair.	peterg
2004/03/11-3	BE Leuwen/Louvain Catholic University	UCL 2003/03/11-3: Patents, Innovation and Public Interest	speaker	?phm?
2004/05/20-23	DE Flensburg	LUG Camp	FFII will at least be able to provide a speaker.	arebenti
2004/05/15	DE Augsburg	Grüne IT	IT event of the Greens, requested a speaker from FFII.	blasum
2004/06?	DE Karlsruhe?	Linuxtag 2004	FFII has been present every year since 2000. Similar event RMLL in Lorraine may be of interest.	arupp?
2004/09/21-4	DE Zürich	Orbit	Swiss IT trade fair, participation only if local volunteers want it.
2004/10/18-22	DE Munich	Systems 2004	IT fair where FFII has been present during most years, but needs preparation.	arupp?
2004/11/09-10	BE Brussels	Information Infrastructure 2004

National Activities

FFII may plan a tour through various European capitals, especially in Eastern Europe, in March.

Germany
Italy
Ireland
Belgium
Portugal

Germany

Parliamentary Evening Berlin 2004-01-28: Due to a conflict with the SPD New Year Reception, this has been postponed to 2004-03-10. Key players have been informed orally, written inivitations will be sent out before Christmas.

List event schedules of various institutions here, e.g. Council () Parliament WIPO (We must be present at Substantive Patent Law Treaty Draft: Unlimited Patentability and Strict Limits on Patent Quality to be hardcoded into international law negotiations in Geneva, June (?)) IT exhibitions, FOSDEM etc EU Commission Events, e.g. IST

Annotated Links

Vrijschrift Events: Includes an event on patents and copyright with Richard Stallman and Michael Hart in Amsterdam on 2004-02-23