§ Mr. LazarowiczTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment she has made of the effect of current EU proposals for software patenting on the small and medium sized enterprise sector. [142016]
§ Ms HewittThe current European Commission proposal for a Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions has been subject to a regulatory impact assessment, which was cleared by the European Scrutiny Committee of the House in its forty-first report of the 2001–02 session.
Although the scope of the assessment is necessarily wider than the SME sector, it does specifically consider the effect of the proposals on small businesses. In particular, it indicates that the proposed Directive would reduce the uncertainty concerning the patentability of computer-implemented inventions and should therefore reduce patenting and legal costs. As these costs and uncertainties are of particular concern to small and medium sized businesses, I believe that a Directive that achieves these aims would have particular benefits for the SME sector.
§ Mr. LazarowiczTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the policy is of the UK Government regarding the EU proposals for software patenting. [142017]
§ Ms HewittThe Government continue to support the proposal put forward by the European Commission for a Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions that clarifies the existing position and reduces uncertainty in this field. My Department continues to work with interested parties and other member states to achieve a Directive that meets these aims and offers benefits for both software developers and software users in the UK and Europe.