 |
Jean Ferré (ARISEM) : "A patent free software industry is necessary for innovation"ARISEM is a 3 years old Paris based software company specialised in information and knowledge management server systems. ARISEM created one of the first meta-searcher on the Web : DigOut4U (1997 IDG Internet Innovation award)We strongly believe at ARISEM that software just like ideas should not be patentable. If this became the rule, it would become very difficult for company like ours to emerge. How could we generate innovation if every idea, every algorithm, every implementation in the code needed to be checked as being patent-free. How could we develop ourselves if every week or so we needed to apply for a patent. Software patents are not a necessity to protect innovation in the software industry (branding, expertise, fast development and innovation make this much better), software patents are more a mean to create an artificial entrance barrier. For ARISEM, a patent free software industry is necessary for innovation to stay possible for small and medium organisations. Moreover, it seems obvious to us that patent enforcement would slow down the expansion and development of information technologies. This would be damageable for humanity as a whole and for our industry. We - in the software industry - work hard to create a better world for people that will be able to share ideas, information and knowledge. We at ARISEM believe that software patent enforcement would ruin all this and only create additional lines of profit for law firms. Jean Ferré - CEO
Jean Ferré (ARISEM) : "Le brevet, c'est un peu la mort de l'innovation spontanée"Le sentiment très fort d'ARISEM est que le logiciel n'est pas brevetable, comme les idées. Et qu'une politique de brevets favorise les entreprises de grande taille capables de produire un grand nombre de brevets et de les défendre ensuite.Pour une start-up (nous sommes 15 personnes et autofinancés), le brevet est cher et nous développons beaucoup trop d'idées pour toutes les breveter. Si le brevet était gratuit (subventionné totalement par Bruxelles), ce serait mieux. Reste néanmoins le fait que ce qui coûte cher est de faire appliquer et respecter un brevet, reste aussi que ce serait ingérable de devoir vérifier avant chaque production d'un algorithme ou d'un bout de code s'il faut payer des royalties à quelqu'un qui est passé par là avant. Le brevet, c'est un peu la mort de l'innovation spontanée telle que nous la pratiquons à ARISEM en tous cas. ARISEM souhaite que sur ce point le modèle américain ne soit pas suivi par la Commission. Jean Ferré - Président Directeur Général
(translation by JP. Smets) Jean Ferré (ARISEM) : "Software Patents mean the death of spontaneous innovation"Wer strongly believe at ARISEM that software, just like ideas, should not be patentable. Patents tend to promote big companies which can file many patents and enforce them.For a start-up company like us, with 15 employess and self-finances, patents are expensive and we create much to many ideas to patent them all. If patents were free or totally subsidised by European Commission, il would be more reasonable. Still, what is really expensive is to enforce a patent. It is also impossible to manage a development process in which one has to check for each algorithm used in software whether royalties should be paid to someone else. Patents are like the death of spontaneous innovation just as we handle it at ARISEM. ARISEM hopes, for the precise point of software patentability, that the European Commission will not try to imitate the American model. Jean Ferré - CEO
|
|
[ History | Laws | Examples | Against | Adapt | Agree] Last update by webmaster on Mon Jun 8 00:23:32 1998 |
