Re: [Fsfe-uk] Fwd: UK Leading Patents?

[MJ Ray]

Xavi Drudis Ferran <address@hidden> wrote:
> I've tried to explain why I don't understand your arguments, but I think
> we are not making much progress to find much common ground (except that we 
> dislike the Comission's directive proposal). [...]

See: we have common ground.  The problem is that we cannot agree how best to
move this issue forward in the UK.  I think the ideas of who to lobby are
all very fine so far, but we need to know what we are lobbying *for*, else
we may defeat one situation only to have a worse one appear.  The idea we
want also has to reflect the reality of the (three? four?) UK legal systems,
which may be difficult to do.

> I don't want to tell you how to run your country, and I don't want you 
> to export your case law system to mine. I'm even starting to ask myself 
> why we are in the same political object (EU) if we are not going to let 
> each other have any say in any affair. 

I think that's going a bit far.  No, the UK will probably not adopt a code
law (at least not before the revolution), but there is a lot that can be
learnt from each other.  The UK law should learn from situation in other EU
countries, but so should other EU laws be influenced by UK law.  I'll bet
that none of our systems are perfect, but probably none are so bad as to
require total overthrow.  (Worse is Better, anyone?)

> - having dared to propose how law could be in the UK without obviously
> knowing anything about your country, maybe offending people in the process
> by questioning your institutions. Please understand that in the culture I
> come from, criticizing institutions is almost the national sport. I guess
> criticizing one's own institutions does not feel the same as foreigners
> criticizing yours. So sorry.

Criticising the institutions (eg UKPTO) is fine, but quite a bit of what has
been said on the FFII site and elsewhere has been criticising the people of
one part of the UK, not the institutions.  Oddly enough, as a member of the
group criticised ("the British"), I get a bit unhappy when accused of things
that I do not do.

> - having bored most people in the list with a topic which does not seem
> interesting to most

I think it is interesting, but it's also a nasty thorny topic and most
people are content to watch Alex trying to wrap his mind around it ;-)

> - having wasted Hartmut's time in an attempt to communicate with a community 
> I thought we could coordinate efforts with, but which does not seem to have 
> many goals in common with us. 

Please do not misunderstand the difference in opinion of how to achieve the
goals with not sharing the goals.  Also, I suspect some of what Alex has
said to be just "testing the arguments", but he'll have to declare on that.

> - having put MJ Ray in a difficult position between us all and leading him to 
> bail out midflight.

No, I'm still here.  Bailing out is merely because of insufficient time.

> - being always too verbose

I think many are guilty of that.

-- 
MJR ,----------------------------------------------------
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