Imminent threat of software patents in New Zealand
The director of the End Software Patents campaign Ciaran O'Riordan
writes to warn of an imminent threat of software patents in New Zealand:
aaaaDear Free Software Supporters,
The New Zealand government has proposed allowing unlimited software
patenting. They are accepting comments until July 2nd, but
participation from the people who will be harmed seems very low.The details of how to participate can be found on swpat.org:
http://en.swpat.org/wiki/New_ZealandParticipation of the free software community is particularly important
because, although SME federations and consumer rights groups are
sometimes the most influential lobbies against software patents, it's
often the free software community that raises awareness of the issue and
gets these other groups moving. The July 2nd deadline is very close, so
work is needed now.We thus urge you to participate in the consultation, but also to raise
awareness on blogs, news sites, and among email groups, and to contact
related interest organisations and companies to ask them to get involved
too.Some other swpat.org pages that may be useful:
http://en.swpat.org/wiki/Organising_a_campaign
http://en.swpat.org/wiki/Software_patents_harm_SMEs
http://en.swpat.org/wiki/Studies_on_economics_and_innovation
http://en.swpat.org/wiki/Harm_to_standardsCiaran O'Riordan
Director End Software Patents
Tel: +32 487 64 17 54 email: ciaran [at] fsf.org
Anonymous (not verified)
18 Jun 2009 at about 13:53.
Software patents have already
Software patents have already been granted in New Zealand. Go to http://www.iponz.govt.nz/cms/banner_template/IPPATENT and put "Microsoft*" or "Google*" in the "Owner Name" field.
orbital (not verified)
20 Jun 2009 at about 08:56.
You have to submit concrete
You have to submit concrete proposals on which amendments to propose to the NZ patent law.
It is good to talk about “no software patents”, it is better to propose concrete and precise amendments.
Here are some of the StopSoftwarePatents.org proposals:
A claimed object that consists only of instructions for use of generic data processing hardware (universal computer), also called “program for computers” or “computer-implemented solution”, is not an invention in the sense of patent law, ***regardless of the form in which it is claimed.***
A claimed object can be an invention in the sense of patent law only if it contributes knowledge to the state of the art in a field of applied natural science.
Bevan (not verified)
26 Jun 2009 at about 14:54.
Please send a submission to
Please send a submission to the Commerce Committee informing them that the Patents bill has forgotten to review software patentability, even when they said it would. Also suggest that software should be added to the exclusion list. See http://en.swpat.org/wiki/New_Zealand for details
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