[JURIST] Microsoft [corporate website] has denied reports in the Danish media that Chairman Bill Gates threatened the Danish prime minister that the company would eliminate jobs in the country if it did not back an EU patent law proposal. Danish publication Børsen reported [in Danish] Tuesday that Gates told Danish Prime Minister Fogh Rasmussen that he would move jobs from recently acquired Navision [official website] to the US if Denmark opposed the patent directive. Microsoft European Vice President Klaus Holse Andersen denied that Gates made the statement while meeting with Rasmussen, and he said that Microsoft had no plans to close Navision. The patent proposal has been controversial in Europe. Supporters claim that it would standardize patent laws and facilitate trade involving software-based inventions, while opponents argue that the directive would concentrate power in the hands of major corporations like Microsoft and stifle technological innovation. From Denmark, the Copenhagen Post has local coverage. CNET News has more.