Large suppliers such as Microsoft are winning European public sector IT contracts unfairly as the rules governing the use of trademarks in tender requests are being flouted, according to a new report by Campaign group OpenForum Europe.
OpenForum Europe (OFE) is a not-for-profit industry organisation which was originally launched in 2002 to accelerate and broaden the use of Open Source Software (OSS).
OFE’s role has since evolved and its primary role now is to promote the use of open standards in ICT as a means of achieving full openness and interoperability of computer systems throughout Europe.
OFE said it analysed more than 400 IT-related tender notices posted to the Official Journal of the EU between February and March 2010. It found that over 10% of the notices allowed use of trademarks. Moreover, a majority of those applications belonged to Microsoft.
Under EU rules, government or public sector bodies should avoid using trademarks in tender notices for IT. This is to encourage competition among companies.
