Anti-software-patent campaigners have warned that US-style software patents could become widespread in Europe after a proposed European Patent Litigation Agreement (EPLA) featuring plans for a new European patent court secured support from the European Commission.

Speaking at an informal meeting of the Economic and Finance Council of the European Union (EU) in Finland this month, internal market commissioner Charlie McCreevy said he was committed to advancing Community Patent legislation to harmonise patent law across the EU and bringing the current EPLA negotiations to a conclusion.

Anti-software-patent campaigners won assurances from the European Commission earlier this year that European law would not be amended to accept software patents. However, they remain fearful the EPLA and its planned creation of a new European patent court to rule on litigation arising from patents granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) will strengthen the EPO and its practice of approving pure software patents.

Florian Mueller, founder of anti-software-patents web site Nosoftwarepatents.com, said the new court would increase the likelihood of software patents in Europe. "The EPO recently upheld a Microsoft software patent on clipboard data formats and we fear it will continue to grant pure software patents," he said. "Up to now national courts have tended to reject these patents, but under the EPLA the new court could displace these national courts. "

Mueller added that there were likely to be close links between the new court and the EPO, making it more likely to uphold the EPO's software patents. Mueller and other anti-software-patent lobbyists believe software patents would stifle innovation and competition, ultimately leading to higher prices.

However, McCreevy insisted in his speech that a new court delivering unified jurisdiction for patents granted by the EPO "would offer valuable cost savings and increase certainty in regard to patent application".

He was supported by Leo Baumann of IT industry lobby group EICTA, who argued that with the European Commission unable to agree on a harmonised patent law the EPLA promises a potential solution to Europe's currently fragmented patent environment.

Baumann added that the new court was not intended to "codify software patents ", but it was hoped it would provide better intellectual property protection for inventions with embedded software, such as mobile phones and satellite navigation systems.