We are looking for New Zealand-based co-signers for this petition. Our goal is to demonstrate to our Government that software users and developers do not want software patents, and that we want the New Zealand Government to change the Patents Bill to ensure their exclusion.

The Problem

In 2010, a Select Committee unanimously recommended that software be excluded from patentability. Clause 10A(1) of the Patents Bill will achieve this.

Unfortunately, the Government has decided to add clause 10A(2) at the last minute. While intended to preserve the availability of patents for inventions containing embedded software, this clause actually undermines the intended exclusion of software patents.

The Remedy

In order to preserve the exclusion of software patents, but still preserve patents for inventions containing embedded software, we request the following replacement for clause 10A(2) of the Patents Bill:

10A(2): Subsection (1) does not prevent an invention that makes use of an embedded computer program from being patentable.

This change fulfils these crucial requirements:

it preserves the Select Committee's unanimous recommendation that software be excluded from patentability. it ensures that patents are still available for inventions containing embedded software, such as Fisher & Paykel washing machines. it avoids the controversial, counter-productive and unwanted "as such" proviso in the current clause 10A(2).

For any who might be concerned, this excellent article investigates the relative ambiguity of "as such" versus the term "embedded computer program".

Take Action

If you agree with the proposed remedy, and you are a New Zealander-based software user or developer, please add your signature to the list using the form below.

Update: due to spam submissions, we're taking the form offline. This site is now here for historical purposes, and in hopes it might provide useful lessons to those wanting to achieve similar measures to remove software patents in their jurisdictions! Best of luck.