Representatives from Irish business travelled to Brussels yesterday to lobby in favour of an EU law on software patents that they say will "massively" affect the industry for the better.

Meeting with Irish MEPs, the representatives from the information and communications technology (ICT) sector argued their case ahead of a crucial vote in the European Parliament on July 6th.

Coming from businesses that ranged from software giant Microsoft to a six-employee firm, they told MEPs the directive will make it less expensive and complex to protect their inventions throughout the EU.

"We see this as perhaps one of the most important directives of recent years," said Kathryn Raleigh, director, ICT.

Under the software patent directive, existing rules would be streamlined, making it easier to defend a patent invention.

Currently, applications for patents on software inventions are treated differently by separate patent offices in the EU member states, leading to inconsistency and differences in quality in the patent-granting process.

If the directive is passed, it would mean companies would have more legal certainty, which in turn would make them more innovative, said Barry Moore of the Irish Software Association.

The ICT sector in Ireland employs around 100,000 people, with 40 per cent of all indigenous companies engaged in software research and development.

The 11-strong delegation brushed off concerns by some open-source and small software developers that the directive would concentrate patents in the hands of a few large companies.