Thank you Jon for contributing to the discussions of patents. Your comment about "drafted by those who know how to present the invention in a way which will meet the requirements of the UK (or European) Patent Office" is consistent with a comment by Eben Moglen at the Sakai Conference saying there are patents for software in Europe, but not labeled so.
Although Moglen is confident that software will eventually not be patentable, few remember the words “in a generation or so.” Which suggests a policy of accommodation to the legal environment that does and will continue to exist in some form and the tradition of openness in higher education that all of us value highly.
I am learning the British courts and bar are much more civil than those in the U.S. This is the first time I have read an opinion when a judge thanks a defendant for the research he had contributed. And is comparable to the way Members of the Parliament speak about higher education in their hearings. Refreshing.