Science and innovation minister Lord Sainsbury today backed the European Union's (EU) proposed patent directive, denying that it will have an 'adverse impact' on the software market.

Despite claims by the open source community that the directive could lead to anti-competitiveness in the software industry, Lord Sainsbury says it will help foster and support innovation.

The minister met with opponents to allay fears that the directive - focused on protecting technological inventions across Europe - would give technology giants greater legal powers to threaten the open source community and small businesses in court.

'Patents provide the confidence to invest in R&D for technological industries and the current draft directive will ensure that Europe continues to strike the right balance and provides clarity as to what can and cannot be patented with regard to computer implemented inventions,' said Sainsbury.

'It is vital for Europe to have a climate which supports the software industry, including the valuable role open source has to play.'

But the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII), an organisation lobbying against the directive, says the decision could harm the open source community.

'Because open source is free, there is no way for an open source project to pay royalties, so a single patent could derail an entire project,' said an FFII spokesman.

'The growing reputation of open source software makes it a more and more likely target for the major established players - if you can't win in the marketplace, kill in the courtroom.'

But Lord Sainsbury said many of these fears had resulted from changes in US patent practice over the past five years, something that the EU directive will oppose.

'The directive will ensure that Europe continues on its own path which is a balance approach that both creates a climate for innovation and supports open source software,' he said.

The EU Council is expected to decide next week whether to move forward with a second reading of the directive, which will then need to be approved by the European Parliament next year.

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