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#title: Siemens and Software Patents

#descr: Siemens has always been at the forefront of the patent movement.  Yet,
even those Siemens patent cadres who most actively promote software
patentability within industrial and governmental organisations do not
try to argue that this is beneficial, either for Siemens or for the
world.  They merely say that Europe has to follow the lead of the US,
which sets the standards in the global market.  Meanwhile, many
Siemens managers in IT and telecommunications believe that patents are
putting brakes on their activities and doing substantial harm to the
industry.

#eeh: Siemens E-Patents at the EPO

#bto: In the late 80s and early 90s, Arno Körber, head of the patent
department of Siemens, successfully installed a patent incentive
system at Siemens which made the patenting numbers soar to the sky and
helped leveraging the economy-of-scale advantage of Siemens as a large
company.

#Was: Many at Siemens are used to the patent system and associate success
experiences with it.  They are afraid that the continued
informatisation of many problems will erode the advantages which they
have drawn from the patent game.  Basically their approach is
conservative: they want to repeat past success experiences.  In a
similar spirit, they are afraid of the profound change in the patent
system which this implies and therefore keen to reassure everybody
that they or course %(q:do not want business method patents).  Yet
this does not prevent the Siemens patent department from applying for
lots of business method patents and trivial functionality patents (see
tabular listing below), nor does it prevent the patent policy
representatives of Siemens from strongly endorsing and supporting all
legislative initiatives which make such patents obligatory.  The fear
of losing the patentopoly success experience is greater than the fear
of patent inflation.

#ttW: A newer current of opinion among engineers and managers at Siemens
thinks more sceptically about the patent process.  Younger managers
have told us that %(q:patents are a dragging our foot and not needed
for protecting investments in the telecommunication sector).  This may
be related to their experience of negotiating with QualComm and other
small companies who do not develop products but only patents and who
assert these patents aggressively against big players such as Siemens.
 Many Siemens employees have signed the %(ep:Petition for a Free
Europe without Software Patents).  Yet this current has so far not
been able to influence the presentation of Siemens on the political
stage.

#ZWr: Among the organisations which have been under heavy influence of the
Siemens patent department are ZVEI, Bitkom, BDI/Unice.  Chief patent
strategist Arno Körber was the author of a ZVEI paper calling for
software patentability in 1999/07.

#yte: Siemens has for many years cultivated very close strategic alliance
with %(MS), another firm with a keen interested in establishing
software patents.

#stt: Siemens 2001-3/4: Potent Weapons, US system most advanced

#Wrl: Dr. Horst Fischer, patent department head of Siemens since 1994,
declares in an interview with Siemens Webzine that patents are
%(q:potent weapons) and that software patents will play an
increasingly great role for the strategy of Siemens: %(bc:Software
patents even account for an increasingly large share of our portfolio.
Some groups, such as Automation & Drives and Medical Solutions, have
launched special initiatives for such patents. Initial registration of
these property rights is increasingly occurring in the U.S., because
the legal framework for software patents is very advanced there. This
trend is even more pronounced in the case of patents for %(q:business
models), in other words, patents for electronic business solutions.
Here we've set up a worldwide coordination and counseling center.)

#UxW: Ulrich Eberl 1998: Kalter Krieg um neue Erfindungen

#EKn: A Siemens patent expert reports about the new strategic importance of
patents for Siemens and the market in general, and lists figures: 150
patent experts, 100K patents, 1G license revenues, strategies,
battles, ambushes, ...

#Stn: Siemens patent department 2002: patents are sexy, aggressive strategic
use in IT area decisive for succes of Siemens

#Mth: Members of the board and leaders of the patent department speak
proudly about the fruits of their work of building an efficient patent
incentive and management system: >6000 patents per year, 60% in
software, aggressive use especially in the USA, charging of licensing
fees even within the Siemens group, so as to improve the incentive
effect.  Siemens no longer has the image of the %(q:peaceful giant),
litigation fees have soared by 100% in the last 10 years, patent
department with 200 employees is one of the most profit-oriented
%(q:patent law companies), especially in the US, which Siemens views
as the key market where the future is decided, also because Europe
still seems to be a bit reluctant in granting swpat.

#Zfa: ZVEI fordert umfassenden Software-Patentschutz

#Glw: GNN report about a ZVEI statement in favour of software patentability
which was, as we found later, written by Arno Körber from Siemens. 
The people at the ZVEI office didn't seem to know anything about the
debate about software patents nor that ZVEI had intervened in this
debate.

#ZWe: ZVEI für Softwarepatente

#ZWw: ZdNet report about a ZVEI statement in favour of software
patentability which was, as we found later, written by Arno Körber
from Siemens.  The people at the ZVEI office didn't seem to know
anything about the debate about software patents nor that ZVEI had
intervened in this debate.

#AWn: Arno Koerber: What do Software Patents mean to European Industry

#sal: speech by the Siemens patent chief at an EU sponsored software
patentability rally in London 1998.  Explains that patents are
necessary because (a) software ideas are %(q:strategic) (b) anything
strategic must be ownable (c) copyright doesn't allow idea ownership. 
Apart from these faulty premises, the speech contains a lot of
interesting facts and thoughts.

#Lmg: LiVe argumentiert gegen ZVEI

#CnW: Critical response to ZVEI by Linux-Verband

#leu: contains a lot of info on Siemens patenting activities in the
automation field

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