FFII considers the possibility of submitting an "Amicus Curiae" letter to the European Court of Justice regarding the Microsoft monopoly case. Especially about using patents to raise barriers for interoperability and the conditions under these should be licenced from a monopoly (e.g. what is "reasonable").
In the US system, it is possible for non-litigants to submit their opinions to an appeals court if they are affected by the outcome of a case. A similar procedure may exist in Europe. Relevant treaties are here: http://europa.eu.int/cj/en/instit/txtdocfr/index.htm
Bolkestein have claimed that competition law should be used to ensure interoperability when this requires patents.
Hence it might be sensible to try this procedure now on the MS case.
