Tech bosses rebel on EU software patents

The controversial EU software patents directive that drew strong feelings from the tech community and spent months at the hands of at the EU has now drawn the ire of several top-level technology bosses.

The section of the directive intended to permit 'internet business methods' such as Amazon's OneClick system to be patented - not currently possible in Europe but allowed under US law - has been nixed. The debate over the directive polarised the tech world, with big business calling the change essential and software developers calling for the whole directive to be canned.

The vote suffered a series of delays and was eventually passed in September. Big business has now decided to make its displeasure felt, with a letter from the CEOs of five prominent tech companies scorning the directive sent to the Italian economic affairs Minister and the EU, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Among the complainants were the heads of Nokia, Philips and Siemens who stated in their letter to the EU that they object to the directive having "in the case of telecommunications and consumer electronics, [taken away] most... of our R&D investment", saying that "effective patent protection" had been ruled out.

The directive has found no favour among the tech community, falling between the two stools of patent activists - big companies that don't think the directive goes far enough - and software developers and open source advocates, who think it goes too far. The directive itself has yet to make it onto European statue books – and the EU has hinted that if the wrangling continues, it may be put on ice indefinitely.