EU directive could spark patent war

[Steve Schear]

[I wonder what if any effect this might have on crypto patents, e.g., 
Chaumian blinding?]

"The European Parliament's decision to limit patents... risks creating a 
"patent war" with a fallout that could make it illegal to access some 
European e-commerce sites from the United States..."

"Pure software should not be patentable, the parliament argued, and 
software makers should not be required to license patented technology for 
the purposes of interoperability--for example, creating a device that can 
play a patented media format, or allowing a computer program to read and 
write a competitor's patented file formats. "

"The amendments also sought to ban the patenting of business methods such 
as Amazon.com's patent on one-click purchasing. "

Full story at http://news.com.com/2100-1014_3-5086062.html?tag=nefd_top

steve