Gates Meets With European LawmakersGates Meets With European Lawmakers

Bill Gates continued his goodwill tour of Europe Tuesday, visiting the European Parliament, (MEPs) whose members are examining sensitive software intellectual property issues. The composition of top legislators involved with trade and industry prompted reports that the issue of software patents would be discussed.

The status of software patents has been a major IP issue in recent months as the EU tries to come to grips with the future of software patents.

Microsoft, which has been vigorously filing patents in recent months, wants to tighten European Law on software patents. The open-source software community generally seeks to have patent restrictions relaxed, with IP protection to come more from trade secret and copyright protection.

Florian Mueller, campaign director of a group promoting open-source software, said that members of Parliament selected to attend the meeting with Gates have been involved with deciding whether software patents will be reviewed by the EU. "Software patents are the big issue relevant to the MEPs at the moment," said Mueller, who represents the NoSoftwarePatents.com campaign.

Another issue between Microsoft and the EU is the EU's antitrust case against Microsoft, which is not in the bailiwick of the Parliament members.

The European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee has been considering whether to restart a process of restructuring the EU's stance on software patents. Microsoft's actions indicate that it hopes to tighten patent law in its favor.

Mueller's organization is supported by Red Hat, MySQL AB, and 1&1. Mueller said he believes most open-source companies would like to see the EU software patent process go forward and see software patents abolished. Alternately, he said his organization "can live with the existing law." Red Hat and MySQL provide open-source software; 1&1 is a large German ISP provider.

In other stops, Gates attended the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland, where he predicted the value of the dollar would continue to drop. He also visited Microsoft's chief European facility in Bavaria.

In Prague, Gates was to be the featured speaker at the second European Microsoft Government Leaders Forum (GLF). A key aim of the event is to focus on the Lisbon Agenda, which aims to harness technology for social and economic progress.

"We recognize our responsibilities as a corporate citizen, and through initiatives such as the GLF, we are listening carefully to our government partners and working hard to support their efforts with responsive technologies and [programs,]" Gates said in a statement. "We are committed to continuing and furthering these efforts."