Battleangel

Awapatent (in Swedish for the time being) sent out a report on the status of Swedish (and European) companies with the US patent office. Apparently they’re not happy. So, what else is new. But then they go on to say something that really pisses me off … paraphrased, translated and shortened …

We’re not as competitive because the conditions for R&D are worse in Europe. Given this, it is alarming that the European Parliament may turn down the Software Patents Directive and thus make things worse still.

Nice of them to give away the reason for ordering the report. Of course, they’re worried about the possibility of the Directive being trashed. So they invent this big dark cloud on a blue sky. As if those two items are connected in any least way.

The notion that the sheer number of patents has got anything to do with anything is also dead wrong. Plus, who cares about what happens with the US patent office? Talk about using statistics to your advantage. Also, I sense that this is just the latest ploy to discredit Europe. There are quite a few people in the business community over here that moan about how bad Europe is and how much better the US is doing. Higher living standards blah blah, but only if you hold the statistics upside down against a full moon and stand on one leg, barking.
I’m sick of it.
From their point of view, obviously the US is much better. Less obstacles for corporations and a much harsher capitalistic climate. The working week is longer by far. Hence if you’re in the business elite, obviously said examples are better places to be. In Asia you can get employees that work for a couple of cents an hour and in America unions and social safety nets are poor and the workforce is essentially free to prey on. There are a great many things that tie into this debate. And by the way. Europe is actually doing quite well considering how totally, utterly, completely incompetent and lazy we all apparently are.

I have a much better solution to this of course. If we’re gonna take to extremes, which I suppose I will have to do if things continue along this path. Just f**ck patents and take whatever they come up with in the US or in Asia. A bit like what Israel proposed to do, only in a much more uncompromising way. That way we don’t have to worry about that pesky fantasy ranking and how “our patents” are doing “over there.” And then we can concentrate on building a European Union centered on human needs and not those of corporations. Because they are anything BUT the same. Ironically, in many ways, the more we protect European corporations, the worse off we are. At least with foreign companies we can give them the boot, which is not always as easy with pan-European corporations.

Bottom line: You never know where your enemies are hiding. This one is virtually in my own backyard …

Awapatent AB is Europe’s second largest consulting company in intellectual property rights issues (patents, design registration and trademark protection), IT law and bio-science law. Clients include Swedish and foreign industrial companies. Awapatent has approximately 280 employees and reported sales of SEK 399 million for 2002. The company’s head office is in Malmö, Sweden.