The European Parliament has rejected a measure intended to legalize software patents in the European Union.  As a result, the world will have fairly unrestricted access to technologies invented in Europe while Europe continues to honor U.S. patents. 

It would seem that the European Parliament has voted 729 to 648 in favor of eliminating patent protection and the corresponding revenues from the European technology sector.   According to News.com:

The future of the directive is currently unclear. It is possible that a revised version could be debated in the future. But back in March, Charlie McCreevy, a member of the European Commission, said the Commission would not resubmit a new directive if the Parliament chose to reject the current version.

Other News.com articles here and here.

In the United States, patents can be filed for software-based intellectual property.  This system encourages innovation and new invention while allowing for businesses to license technology in order to recover development costs and encourage further innovation.  

In Europe, it would seem, new technology will provide less profit potential and thus less incentive to innovate.  Instead, companies will look to copy the software of their competitors.  U.S. based companies will also have access to European software technology without being restricted by patent.  So, while the world copies the inventions that originate in Europe, they will increasingly look to the U.S. and other countries for alternate innovative solutions.  Just as Open-Source is a philosophy that ultimately provides all businesses with identical tool sets, so will the lack of patent protection in Europe.  Companies looking for an edge against their competition will increasingly turn towards proprietary and custom software that retains legal protection.  These protections and the revenue they facilitate will keep closed-source software innovative and profitable.  Simply put, any company looking for better tools, will be spending their money in a country other than Europe.

EWeek concurs with my view of patent-free business sector:

The system is seen as creating competitive advantages for the EU's open-source economy, and for EU-based IT companies, which don't have to worry about the overhead associated with patents on software. Open-source projects are considered especially vulnerable to software patents, and open-source leaders such as Linux Torvalds have spoken out against the current directive.

Curious as to the direction Europe is headed with Open-Source software and zero patent protection?  Think Socialism.

W.S.