ethipat

++ Do you care about right and wrong?

Maybe you've heard about patents?  How they protect our inventions from being copied by greedy foreigners.  How they help innovation and research?  How patents are totally vital to our modern Europe...

Don't believe everything you hear.  The [[[lexicon:global-patent-industry|patent industry]]] is growing powerful by [http://swpat.ffii.org/gasnu/vivant/index.en.html changing the rules], so that more and more areas can be patented.  It happened in the US, and it's happening here in Europe.  Software, genes, ways of doing business.  Maybe it doesn't matter that many things - from mobile phones and MP3 players to breast-cancer tests and essential medicines - cost more, because of patents.  Maybe it doesn't matter that laws aren't made by parliaments anymore, but by unelected officials who look after their own vested interests.

Do you think you can't do anything about this?  Well, you'd be wrong.  For seven years [http://www.ffii.org the FFII] - a dedicated group of volunteers - have fought against bad patents in Europe, and so far [http://www.ffii.org/Awards we've been winning].

It's time for all of us to get involved.  We're not asking for money or time, just your voice.  Sign the petition, and pass this message to some friends.  **We want to collect a million signatures, and call for a new democratic patent law**.

++ I, the undersigned, support this statement

**The European patent system discriminates against:**

* //The Public//, by letting those who benefit from the patent system set the rules for everyone.
* //Real innovators//, by granting patents too easily and in areas where patents are not needed.
* //Fast-moving industries//, by pretending that one size fits all.
* //The free market//, by granting overbroad monopolies that lock out innovation and competition.
* //Smaller businesses//, by creating risks and costs that small firms cannot afford.
* //Open research//, in software, medicine, and more, by blocking the free flow of ideas and knowledge.

This discrimination is unfair, and it is costly.  We all pay for it, with higher prices, fewer jobs, and less freedom.

**I call on the EU to build a new patent system on these principles:**

* //Fair to the public.// It must be made by elected lawmakers of democratic European Union.
* //Fair to innovators.// It must allow patents only where needed to spur innovation.
* //Fair to all industries.// It must adapt to the fast-growing diversity of technology and business.
* //Fair to a free market.// It must ensure that patent monopolies are narrowly focused.
* //Fair to small businesses.// It must provide affordable, fast, narrow and predictable rights.
* //Fair to open research.// It must protect the independent creation of original works.

[[f<image cover2.jpg link="free-posters"]]

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**I demand an ethical patent system as part of a fair and democratic European Union:**
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[[module SignPetition id="ethipat2007"]]

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++ Who signed last?

[[module PetitionList id="ethipat2007" limit="1"]]

[[[signatures|More...]]]

++ Why?

A democratic legal system must above all serve the public interest.  The law must act in the public interest.  When specific groups have an interest in a law, we must aim for a balance that ultimately serves the public interest.

Our patent systems were founded to promote the progress of the arts and sciences for the public interest.  We grant patents as a means to serve the public interest, and not the patent holders' interests.  An ethical patent system is one that looks after the interests of patent holders but in a way that does not harm the progress of the arts and sciences for the public interest.

++ Help us make it happen

* Email a [[[free-posters|campaign poster]]] to a friend.
* Add a [[[banners|banner]]] to your site.
* Blog about the [[[about|EthiPat campaign]]].