The European Information, Communications and Consumer Electronics Technology Industry Associations (commonly known by its abbreviation, EICTA) is a Brussels-based European trade association of electronics and telecommunications companies. Bold textItalic textBold text // Headline text Emblem of the Brussels-Capital Region Flag of The City of Brussels Brussels (French: Bruxelles, Dutch: Brussel, German: Brüssel) is the capital of Belgium, the French community of Belgium, the Flemish community and of the European Union. ... World map showing Europe A satellite composite image of Europe Europe is conventionally considered one of the seven continents which, in this case, is more a cultural and political distinction than a physiogeographic one. ... This is a hub page for electronics. ... Telecommunication is the extension of communication over a distance. ...

History

The European Information & Communications Technology Industry Association was founded in November 1999. EICTA finds its origins in two former European federations of industries associations: ECTEL and eurobit. 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

In October 2001, the European Information & Communications Technology Industry Association merged with the EACEM, the European Association of Consumer Electronics Manufacturers, but kept its original acronymic name: EICTA. 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviations formed from the initial letter or letters of words, such as NATO and XHTML, and are pronounced in a way that is distinct from the full pronunciation of what the letters stand for. ...

Positions

EICTA took a leading role in supporting the unamended version of the proposed EU Directive on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions (the "Software Patents Directive"), however, it stated that it was not advocating that patents should be granted for software. Mark MacGann, Director General of EICTA, said The European Union (EU) Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions (2002/0047/COD) was a proposal for an EU law which aimed to harmonise EU national patent laws and practices, which involved the granting of patents for computer-implemented inventions provided they meet certain criteria. ...

"This industry (the ICT industry) is united in its rejection of patenting of software. Those who depict the draft directive on the patentability of computer implemented inventions as some sort of "software patent law" are at best misinformed and at worst dishonest, malicious and disrespectful of the European democratic process." [1]

When EICTA uses the expression "patents for software", it might be understood that it refers to the relatively narrow concept of "inventions of no technical nature", as expressed slightly differently in one of their statements: Category: ... Software patents and patents on computer-implemented inventions (CII) are a class of patents and one of many legal aspects of computing. ... Democracy (from Greek δημοκρατία (demokratia), δημος (demos) the common people + κρατειν (kratein) to rule + the suffix ία (ia), literally the common people rule) is a system where the population of a society controls the government. ...

"Patents for software have never existed and should never exist in Europe because software is already protected by copyright law. Patents will only be granted for inventions of a technical nature. These include inventions in medical equipment, cars, mobile phones, aircraft, televisions, voice- and image-recognition devices, digital rights management solutions, and countless other examples." [2]

The term "technical" is not defined in the Commission and Council versions of above-mentioned directive, however. Since the European Patent Office considers e.g. "processing image data" and "reducing memory usage" as "technical" [3], several third parties --including a recent report written for the European Parliament [4] and a paper [5] presented at the European Policy on Intellectual Property 2005 conference-- have voiced the concern that the effects of the positions that EICTA supports may be much broader than it admits. The copyright symbol is used to give notice that a work is covered by copyright. ...

Notable members

Not including all national trade associations.

• Accenture
• Agilent Technologies
• Alcatel
• Apple
• Blaupunkt Werke
• Canon Europa
• Cisco Systems
• Dell Computer
• EADS
• Epson Europe
• Ericsson
• Fujitsu
• Grundig
• Hewlett-Packard
• Hitachi Europe Ltd
• IBM
• Infineon Technologies
• Intel
• Kenwood Electronics Europe
• Konica Minolta
• Lexmark International
• Lucent Technologies
• Marconi Corporation plc
• Matsushita Electric Europe
• Microsoft
• Motorola
• NEC Europe
• Nokia
• Nortel Networks
• Philips Consumer Electronics
• Pioneer Europe
• Samsung Europe
• Sanyo
• SAP
• Sharp Electronics
• Siemens
• Sony
• Sun Microsystems
• Texas Instruments
• Thales
• Thomson
• Toshiba Information Systems

Accenture NYSE: ACN is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company. ... Agilent Technologies NYSE: A is the actual descendant of the instrument company founded by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard in 1939. ... {{Infobox_Company | company_name = Alcatel| company_logo = | company_type = Public (Euronext: CGE, NYSE: ALA) | foundation = Alsace, France (1898) | location = Paris, France | key_people = Serge Tchuruk, Chairman and CEO | industry = telecommunications | products = provides hardware, software and services to telecommunications service providers and enterprises | revenue = 14. ... Apple Computer, Inc. ... Blaupunkt (German for blue dot) is a German electronic equipment manufacturer, noted for their home and car audio equipment, that is part of Robert Bosch GmbH. Founded in 1923 in Berlin as Ideal, the company changed its name to Blaupunkt in 1938, named after the unique blue dot painted onto... Canon Inc. ... Cisco Systems, Inc. ... Dell Inc. ... European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) is a large European industrial corporation of the aerospace business, formed by the merger on July 10, 2000 of Aérospatiale-Matra of France, Dornier and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace AG (DASA) of Germany, and Construcciones Aeronáuticas SA (CASA) of Spain. ... A four colour Epson Stylus C45 inkjet printer Epson is one of the worlds largest manufacturers of inkjet, dot-matrix and laser printers, scanners, desktop computers, business, multimedia and home theatre projectors, point of sale docket printers and cash registers, laptops, integrated circuits, LCD components and other associated electronic... Ericsson () (NASDAQ: ERICY) is a Swedish telecommunications equipment manufacturer, founded in 1876 as a telegraph equipment repair shop by Lars Magnus Ericsson. ... Fujitsu (富士通) is a Japanese company specializing in semiconductors, computers (supercomputers, personal computers, servers), telecommunications, and services, and is headquartered in Tokyo. ... Manufacturer of home entertainment equipment, established after WW2 in Nuremberg/ Germany. ... The Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), commonly known as HP, is a very large, global company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States. ... Hitachi Ltd. ... International Business Machines Corporation (IBM, or colloquially, Big Blue) NYSE: IBM (incorporated June 15, 1911, in operation since 1888) is headquartered in Armonk, NY, USA. The company manufactures and sells computer hardware, software, infrastructure services and consulting services. ... // Overview Infineon Technologies AG (NYSE: IFX) was founded in April 1999, when the semiconductor operations of parent company, Siemens AG, were spun off to form a separate legal entity. ... Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC, HKEx: 4335), founded in 1968 as Integrated Electronics Corporation, is a U.S.-based multinational corporation that is best known for designing and manufacturing microprocessors and specialized integrated circuits. ... Kenwood Corporation (株式会社ケンウッド) TYO: 6765 is a Japanese manufacturer of amateur radio as well as Hi-Fi and portable audio equipment. ... Konica Minolta (コニカミノルタ) is a Japanese worldwide manufacturer of cameras, camera accessories, photo-copiers, fax machines and laser printers. ... Lexmark is an American computer printer corporation. ... The neutrality of this article is disputed. ... The Marconi Corporation plc is a radio, telecommunication, and internet equipment manufacturing company, formerly known as The General Electric Company (GEC) and Marconi plc. ... Logo for the Panasonic brand Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. ... Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKEx: 4338) is the worlds largest software corporation, with 2005 global annual sales of almost $40 billion USD and about 64,000 employees in 85 countries and regions. ... Motorola (NYSE: MOT) is a global communications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. ... NEC Corporation (Jp. ... Nokia Corporation NYSE: NOK is one of the worlds largest telecommunications equipment manufacturers. ... Nortel Networks Corporation, formerly known as Northern Telecom Limited and now familiarly known simply as Nortel, is a telecommunications equipment manufacturer giant headquartered in Canada. ... Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. (Royal Philips Electronics N.V.), usually known as Philips, (Euronext: PHIA, NYSE: PHG) is one of the largest electronics companies in the world. ... Pioneer Corporation is a world leader in digital entertainment products, based in Tokyo, Japan. ... Samsung Group is one of the largest South Korean business groupings. ... Sanyo Electric Co. ... SAP AG (FWB: SAP, NYSE: SAP) is the largest European software enterprise, headquartered in Walldorf, Germany. ... Sharp Corporation (シャープ株式会社 Shāpu Kabushiki Kaisha) (TYO: 6753) is a Japanese electronics manufacturer, founded in 1912. ... Siemens AG (FWB: SIE, NYSE: SI) is the worlds largest electronics company. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Sun Microsystems, Inc. ... Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN), better known in the electronics industry as TI, is a company based in Dallas, Texas, renowned for developing and commercializing semiconductor and computer technology. ... The Thales Group is a global electronics company serving aerospace, defence, and information technology markets worldwide. ... This article concerns the media and entertainment company. ... Toshiba Corporation (東芝, Tōshiba) (TYO: 6502) is a Japanese high technology electrical and electronics manufacturing firm, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. ...

See also

• Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations of Europe (UNICE)
• The German electrical and electronics industry (ZVEI - Zentralverband Elektrotechnik- und Elektronikindustrie e.V.) [6]

The Union of Industrial and Employers Confederations of Europe, commonly known as UNICE, is a Brussels-based European industry association. ...

External links

• Official web site
• http://www.patents4innovation.org/, an EICTA project, launched in November 2004