Z:gnu-www-ja-europes-unitary-patent--276275-The consequences are becoming/en

The consequences are becoming manifest now in the US, but multinational companies have long lobbied to spread software patents around the world. In 2005, the European Parliament took up the second reading of a directive that had been proposed by the European Commission to authorize software patents. The Parliament had previously amended it to reject them, but the Council of Europe had undone those amendments.