[ox] Kulturvielfalt vs Patentkosten
- From: PILCH Hartmut <phm a2e.de>
- Date: 08 Jan 2002 09:04:12 +0100
Unter
International Network for Safeguarding Cultural Diversity
http://www.incd.org/
findet sich eine programmatische Ansprache vor der UNESCO im Juli
2001, in der die europäische Patent-Sprachenfrage als Testfall für die
Ernsthaftigkeit der Bekenntnisse zum Schutz der kulturellen Vielfalt
hervorgehoben wird:
An example of the upheaval of the principle of subsidiarity is the
proposal, up to now strangely enough supported by the Swedish Minister
of Commerce, that applications to the European Patent Bureau may not
be written in the Swedish language but only in German, French or
English due to the costs of translations.
Of course this is an unacceptable marginalization of the Swedish
language. To forbid Swedish entrepreneurs to apply for patent rights
in their own tongue is not only an infringement upon freedom of speech
but will also limit their chances to compete on the free and open
market. Applications of this kind are often very precious. Why should
Swedish applicants be punished for writing in Swedish when French,
German or English applicants will be automatically accepted?
Apart from the economic aspect there is also a cultural reason to
protest against this violation of the Swedish language. The area of
patents may look like a special sector of little cultural interest.
But this is a false impression. On the contrary, a language needs to
be sharpened and developed all the time in all fields of human
activity. There cannot be any linguistic exception.
There are also other consequences. If this new legislation comes into
practice the Swedish language will not be accepted in Swedish courts
in upcoming trials on controversies about Swedish patents. They will
also have to be conducted in English, French or German. This is of
course an absurd situation.
In Sweden we are many who have been fighting for the Kurdish people´s
right to speak their own language in Turkey. We have claimed that if
the Turkish government does not respect the human right for the
Kurdish minority to speak their own language, Turkey will have no
place in the European Union. But what signals does Sweden send to the
world if we accept this ignorance of the Swedish language? The
proposal has consequently provoked several Swedish organizations,
among them the Swedish Academy which has in its charter dating from
1786 the responsibility to supervise the development of the Swedish
language, to react and together with KLYS make the Swedish Government
change its intentions.
It seems that cultural diversity today is not only threatened by
"globalisation" but also by "europeisation".
Within a short time, the member states of WTO will meet again in Qatar
to discuss conditions for free trade across borders. At the same time
they should also agree to safeguard the rights of participating states
to carry out their national cultural policy, even if this policy might
be in conflict with the interests of free trade. But this is not
likely to happen. Therefore it is a first priority that UNESCO and
other international bodies do their utmost to create international
agreements to ensure that cultural diversity will be taken into
account in all kinds of international operations.
In this work the cultural NGO's might also play a role which we hope
to show when the INCD - our International Network for Cultural
Diversity - convenes in Lucerne in September 2001 to formulate a new
cultural instrument. With confidence we look for support from UNESCO.
Thank you for your kind attention.
In ähnlichem Sinne argumentiert FICPI (Weltverband der Patentanwälte)
in einer kürzlich herausgegebenen Resolution:
http://www.ficpi.org/ficpi/newsletters/49/resolGWengl.html
und auch der Eurolinux-Standpunkt zum Gemeinschaftspatent
http://www.eurolinux.org/news/cpat01B/
nennt das Problem und empfiehlt die Suche nach einer Alternative zur
sprachlichen Vereinheitlichung etwa auf dem Wege von Logiksprache und
automatischer Übersetzung.
Die Patentsprachenfrage illustriert recht anschaulich die Kosten der
sprachlichen Vielfalt und die Überlegenheit der USA als des größten
kulturell und politisch einheitlichen Wirtschaftsraumes. Das
Patentwesen vergrößert diese Überlegenheit, indem es für eine
überproportional hohe Anzahl von US-Patenten im Welthandel sorgt. Die
Schlussfolgerung, nun auch Europa kulturell zu vereinheitlichen, stößt
jedoch auf Ablehnung, zumindest sobald sie laut artikuliert wird.
Eine Alternative wäre die Propagierung von internationalen
Regelwerken, welche kulturell uneinheitlichen Räumen wie Europa und
Asien stärker entgegenkommen und weniger die USA begünstigen. Da
hierzu das Patentwesen am allerwenigsten gehört, kann Europas Rolle in
der internationalen Patentpolitik nur darin bestehen, für eine
konsequente Einengung des Patentwesens zu plädieren. Was ja ohnehin
vernünftig ist und letztlich auch im Interesse der USA liegt.
--
Hartmut Pilch http://phm.ffii.org/
Schutz der Innovation vor der Patentinflation: http://swpat.ffii.org/
100000 Stimmen gegen Logikpatente: http://www.noepatents.org/
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