Establishment of ICT association BIKT - statement on software-related patents

 

Hamburg, April 15th, 2009. The newly-established Bundesverband Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie (Federal Association Information and Communications Technology) BIKT introduced itself to the general public today. The industry association sees itself as a representative safeguarding the interests in particular of small and midsize businesses in the ICT industry.

The core goals of the association are to promote innovation, improve the general conditions for companies in the ICT industry and strengthen the competitiveness of ICT users. The focus here is on the interests of small and midsize companies. Additionally the BIKT wants to go beyond strictly industry-oriented topics and intends to promote more social responsibility in the ICT industry.

The positive echo among the established industry federations shows the great need for a new platform to bundle common interests. Right from the start the BIKT can already count five renowned federations among its members: the Berufsverband Selbständige in der Informatik (BVSI), the Kölner Internet Union (KIU), the Linux Verband and the automation associations patentverein.de and Open Source Automation Development Lab (OSADL).

The board of directors at BIKT consists of the businessmen Johannes Sommer, Marco Schulze and Dirk Hillbrecht. They run their own consulting and software companies in Hamburg, Freiburg and Hanover.

The discussion of the various aspects of copyrights, patent law and other intellectual property rights are of special significance for the BIKT. The association has published on its internet site a statement related to the current appeal proceedings at the European Patent Office (EPO) regarding the issue of patentability of computer programs and takes a clear stand against the granting of software-related patents.

The BIKT statement was prepared by the lawyer Rasmus Keller from Viersen and is based on his legal study which was published recently. He presents clear arguments explaining that the granting of software-related patents represents an encroachment on the exploitation rights of software developers which cannot be reconciled with constitutional law. As a consequence, the granting of such patents is categorically impermissible.

In view of the outstanding significance of the issues raised in the EPO proceedings for the entire ICT industry, the association has made it possible for third parties to intervene in support of the statement up to the end of April. The intervention is free of charge and independent of the membership in the BIKT. The statement will be submitted to the current proceedings at the European Patent Office on behalf of all of the signers.

Note: the time limit for joining the BIKT statement has expired. Klick on this link to access the list of parties who joined the BIKT statement:

// List of parties who joined the BIKT statement

 

Press contact:

BIKT - Bundesverband Informations-
und Kommunikationstechnologie e.V.
Kuhmühle 4
D-22087 Hamburg
Germany

Katharina Fölsche
Johannes Sommer
Tel.: +49 40 209 33 60 50
Fax: +49 40 209 33 60 59
Email: presse[at]bikt[dot]de

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