The Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions (Commission proposal COM(2002) 92), procedure number 2002/0047 (COD) was a proposal for a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(EU) directive aiming to harmonise national patent laws and practices concerning the granting of patents for computer-implemented inventions, provided they meet certain criteria. The

European Patent Office The European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the two organs of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg), the other being the Administrative Council. The EPO acts as executive body for the organisation

describes a computer-implemented invention (CII) as "one which involves the use of a computer, computer network or other programmable apparatus, where one or more features are realised wholly or partly by means of a computer program". The proposal became a major focus for conflict between those who regarded the proposed directive as a way to codify the case law of the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office (unrelated to the EU institutions) in the sphere of computing, and those who asserted that the directive is an extension of the

patentability Within the context of a national or multilateral body of law, an invention is patentable if it meets the relevant legal conditions to be granted a patent. By extension, patentability also refers to the substantive conditions that must be met fo ...

sphere, not just a harmonisation, that ideas are not patentable and that the expression of those ideas is already adequately protected by the law of

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

. Following several years of debate and numerous conflicting amendments to the proposal, the proposal was rejected on 6 July 2005 by the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

by an overwhelming majority of 648 to 14 votes.

History

Original draft

On 20 February 2002, the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

initiated a proposal for a directive to codify and "harmonise" the different EU national patent laws and cement the practice of the European Patent Office of granting patents for computer-implemented inventions provided they meet certain criteria (cf.

software patents under the European Patent Convention The patentability of software, computer programs and computer-implemented inventions under the European Patent Convention (EPC) is the extent to which subject matter in these fields is patentable under the Convention on the Grant of European Pa ...

). The directive also took on the role of excluding "business methods" from patentability (in contrast with the situation under United States law), because business methods as such are not patentable under the different European national patent laws or under the

European Patent Convention The European Patent Convention (EPC), also known as the Convention on the Grant of European Patents of 5 October 1973, is a multilateral treaty instituting the European Patent Organisation and providing an autonomous legal system according to w ...

. Opponents of the original directive claimed that it was a thinly disguised attempt to make all software patentable. Supporters, however, argued that this was not the case since the proposal explained in several locations (pages 11, 14, 24, 25) that there should be no extension to the existing scope of patentability for computer programs and that pure business methods implemented in software would not be patentable. Only computer programs which provided a "technical contribution" would be patentable. This reliance on the word "technical" was an important weakness in the directive, since it is not a word that has a well-defined meaning, and a "technical contribution" was only defined as being "a contribution to the state of the art in a technical field which is not obvious to a person skilled in the art." (See Article 2 of the proposal). Nevertheless, the term has been used as a benchmark for what is and is not patentable by the

and by individual national Patent Offices and courts in Europe (particularly the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and Germany) since the early 1980s. A general understanding of its meaning can be gleaned from studying the resulting case law, summarised in

Software patents under the European Patent Convention The patentability of software, computer programs and computer-implemented inventions under the European Patent Convention (EPC) is the extent to which subject matter in these fields is patentable under the Convention on the Grant of European Pa ...

. The subsequent failure of the European Parliament to develop an acceptable definition of what was meant by the word technical illustrates the difficulty inherent in attempting to do so.

Transformation by the European Parliament

On 24 September 2003, the

passed the directive in a heavily amended form, which placed significant limits on the patentability of software. The most significant changes included: * a definition of the "technicity" requirement for patentability which distinguishes between abstract information-processing processes and specific kinds of physical processes (only the latter are "technical"); * a blanket rule that patents cannot be used to prevent

interoperability Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader de ...

between computer systems.

Patent attorney A patent attorney is an attorney who has the specialized qualifications necessary for representing clients in obtaining patents and acting in all matters and procedures relating to patent law and practice, such as filing patent applications and o ...

Axel H. Horns, however, voiced concern that Parliament's wording might extend the ban on software patents to inventions potentially implementable in software, such as signal processing equipment. Politically, these amendments were supported almost unanimously by small parties on both the right and left, while the larger groupings (

socialists Socialism is an economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes the economic, political, and socia ...

, liberals and

conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilizati ...

) were all split, with the balance of socialists leaning in favour of amendment and the balance of conservatives leaning against. Parliament's amendments were a major defeat for the directive's original proponents. Rather than confirming the practice of granting patents for computer programs which provide a technical contribution, the revised directive placed substantial limits on patentability.

Reversion by the Council of Ministers

Under the

codecision procedure The European Union adopts legislation through a variety of procedures. The procedure used for a given legislative proposal depends on the policy area in question. Most legislation needs to be proposed by the European Commission and approved by ...

, both the European Parliament and the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

(representing national Governments) must approve a text in identical terms in order for a proposal to become law. On 18 May 2004, the Council agreed in an advisory vote to resubmit to Parliament what was described as a "

compromise To compromise is to make a deal between different parties where each party gives up part of their demand. In arguments, compromise means finding agreement through communication, through a mutual acceptance of terms—often involving variations fr ...

version" of the proposal. The agreed version permitted patenting of computer-implemented inventions (providing the inventions have a "technical character") and overturned most of Parliament's amendments. Critics of the Directive argued that the "technical character" requirement was open to too much interpretation and could lead to almost unlimited patentability of software. Proponents, also, felt that the amended version contained too many ambiguities to be capable of meeting the original purpose of the Directive, which was to harmonise the law across Europe. Nevertheless, the Council formally approved this resolution on 7 March 2005. The revised proposal was resubmitted to Parliament.

Developments between first Parliament decision and Council decision

Subsequently, in an unprecedented move, the Dutch national parliament passed a motion requesting that the nation's ministerial representative on the council,

Laurens Jan Brinkhorst Laurens Jan Brinkhorst (born 18 March 1937) is a retired Netherlands, Dutch politician and diplomat of the Democrats 66 (D66) party and jurist. Early life and education Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst was born in the city of Zwolle. His parents were ...

, change his vote on the council's version of the directive, from "in favour" to abstention. Brinkhorst stated that he would not do this. The council's confirmation (or otherwise) of its President's "compromise" had also been delayed. The

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

government announced on 16 November 2004, that it could not "support the text that was agreed upon by Council on 18 May 2004". A joint press release by the FFII, the

Internet Society The Internet Society (ISOC) is an American non-profit advocacy organization founded in 1992 with local chapters around the world. It has offices in Reston, Virginia, United States, and Geneva, Switzerland. Organization The Internet Society ...

Poland, and NoSoftwarePatents.com, supported the concerns of opponents of the Council directive, stating:

at a meeting hosted by the Polish government on the 5th of this month, everyone including representatives of the Polish Patent Office, SUN, Novell, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft, as well as various patent lawyers, confirmed that the present proposal of the EU Council does make all software potentially patentable.

On 7 December 2004, the Belgian Minister of Economic Affairs,

Marc Verwilghen Marc Ernest Elisabeth Robert Juliette Verwilghen (born 21 September 1952) is a Belgian politician. Verwilghen studied law at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the University of Ghent and is the holder of an honorary doctorate from Ghent. A me ...

, stated that no Council decision would be taken until 2005 "for the reason that the

qualified majority A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fund ...

does not exist anymore". However, amid rumours of a change in the Polish position, 13–15 December meeting of the council's

Committee of Permanent Representatives COREPER, from French ''Comité des représentants permanents'', is the Committee of Permanent Representatives in the European Union, made up of the head or deputy head of mission from the EU member states in Brussels. COREPER's defined role ...

determined that a qualified majority appeared to exist, and that the council's revised version of the directive would be scheduled for formal adoption by the council, without further debate, probably at the Agricultures and Fisheries Council meeting on 21 and 22 December 2004. Statements expressing reservations were attached to this Common Position by

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

(which abstained), France (which hoped for further changes to the directive), the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

(where the parliament requested their representative vote against), Poland (which was opposed until recent diplomatic pressure),

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. Germany was ambivalent, saying that the text of the directive could benefit from improvements. Due to the expressed reservations and especially to opposition from Poland, whose Minister of Science and Information Technology made a special journey to Brussels to demand that the directive be dropped from the agenda, the council's vote was postponed "indefinitely". Meanwhile, a group of 61 MEPs from 13 countries tabled a "motion for a resolution" to restart the entire legislative process. On 2 February 2005, JURI, the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, voted 19–1 in favour of asking the commission to withdraw the directive and restart the process. The next day, Nicolas Schmit, deputy foreign minister of

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

(which at that time chaired the council), said that he would instead ask the council to formally adopt the draft directive at a meeting on 17 February. Although

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

stated it would only oppose this if other countries raised an objection, reports of opposition from

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, the

and Spain ensured that the common position was not on the agenda for that meeting of the commission. On 17 February, Parliament's Conference of Presidents (the President of the Parliament and the leaders of the political groups) approved JURI's request to restart the process, and agreed to pass the request to the European Commission. On 24 February, a plenary session of the European Parliament reinforced this message, inviting the commission to reconsider, but on 28 February the Commission refused the parliament's request. The "common position" reappeared on the agenda of the council's 7 March meeting as an "A-item" for adoption without discussion. At the Competitiveness meeting of the council, Denmark requested that this be removed. The President of the council, seemingly in breach of the council's procedures, opposed this, "for administrative reasons" and because it would defeat the logic of the directive. The Danish representative accepted this at face value, declined to object formally, and entered Denmark's objections into the record. The common position was thus adopted without debate, and referred to the European Parliament for a second reading, with dissenting statements and caveats from a number of countries. In the event, only Spain had actually voted against:

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, Belgium and Italy abstained (which has the same effect as voting against, given the way

Qualified Majority Voting The procedures for voting in the Council of the European Union are described in the treaties of the European Union. The Council of the European Union (or simply "Council" or "Council of Ministers") has had its voting procedure amended by subse ...

works).

Second reading in Parliament

In June 2005, the legal affairs committee of the European Parliament discussed the directive and rejected plans for a complete overhaul of the directive. The vote by the committee took place on 21 June 2005, and narrowly decided not to substantially amend the Council version of the directive. According to the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'', this "vote marks a turning point in the protracted battle over the law, which has split the software industry and sparked severe recriminations." On 5 July 2005, the committee's report passed to a plenary session of Parliament for debate by all MEPs. On 6 July 2005, Parliament rejected the proposal by a very large majority (648 in favour of rejection, 14 against and 18 registered abstentions out of 729 total MEPS) without considering any of the other 175 proposed amendments. Under the

, the legislative process ended with this rejection and the proposed directive did not become law in any form. This was the first and the only time a directive was ever rejected by Parliament at second reading. The vote was the result of a compromise between the different parties: those in favour of software patents feared a text that would heavily limit its scope, while those against rejected the whole principle. Heavy defeat was the "least worst option" to both sides. In addition, some saw the defeat as an expression of Parliament's indignation about the handling of the proposal by the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and less formally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU) a ...

and the European Commission as well as its concerns about the content of the proposal itself.

Consequences of the rejection

Parliament's decision to strike down the final draft has the effect that national laws will not be harmonised. National legislatures may continue to enact laws allowing patents on computer-implemented inventions, should they wish to do so, and national courts may enforce such laws. The

, which is not legally bound by any EU directive but generally adapts its regulations to new EU law, has no reason or incentive to adapt its practice of granting patents on computer-implemented inventions under certain conditions, according to its interpretation of the

and its Implementing Regulations.

Reactions

Supporters

Supporters of the proposed directive included

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

and the European Patent Office. The European Information and Communication Technology Association (EICTA) stated that the directive "is extremely important for the future of innovation in Europe as it concerns two-thirds of all inventions in the European hi-tech industry". This position was characterised by opponents of software patents as "dominated by patent lawyers from the patent arms of large corporate members", "most of which qualifying as non-European companies" and "with a patent policy (...) tailored to the special interests of a few large corporations (...)". After the heavily modified draft directive was finally rejected, EICTA's Director General said, "This is a wise decision that has helped industry to avoid legislation that could have narrowed the scope of patent legislation in Europe. ... Parliament has today voted for the status quo, which preserves the current system that has served well the interests of our 10,000 member companies, both large and small."

Opponents

The proposal provoked public disagreement by diverse opponents of

software patent A software patent is a patent on a piece of software, such as a computer program, library, user interface, or algorithm. The validity of these patents can be difficult to evaluate, as software is often at once a product of engineering, something ...

s, who argued that software patents were neither economically desirable nor mandated by

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

. The FFII and the EuroLinux Alliance played key roles in co-ordinating this campaign, which drew support from some

free software Free software, libre software, libreware sometimes known as freedom-respecting software is computer software distributed open-source license, under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, distribut ...

and

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use and view the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open source model is a decentrali ...

programmers, some academics, some small business groups, and some

proprietary software Proprietary software is computer software, software that grants its creator, publisher, or other rightsholder or rightsholder partner a legal monopoly by modern copyright and intellectual property law to exclude the recipient from freely sharing t ...

developers. Many of these organisations expressed concern over what they saw as abuses of the software patent system in the US, and argued that although some software patents might be beneficial, the net effect of the commission's proposals would be to suppress innovation and dampen legitimate competition. The opponent's campaign in its turn was characterised by supporters of the directive as "a small but highly organised and vocal lobby", with EICTA stating that "Those who depict the draft directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions as some sort of 'software patent law' are at best misinformed and at worst dishonest, malicious and disrespectful of the European democratic process".Support for Europe's software patent Directive
OUT-LAW News, 09/11/2004 Figures who have supported the campaign against software patents in Europe include

Tim Berners-Lee Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee (born 8 June 1955), also known as TimBL, is an English computer scientist best known as the inventor of the World Wide Web, the HTML markup language, the URL system, and HTTP. He is a professorial research fellow a ...

, developer of the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) is an information system that enables Content (media), content sharing over the Internet through user-friendly ways meant to appeal to users beyond Information technology, IT specialists and hobbyis ...

; Florian Müller, a

lobbyist Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...

; the Computer & Communications Industry Association, a not for profit international tech trade association, and

Linus Torvalds Linus Benedict Torvalds ( , ; born 28 December 1969) is a Finnish software engineer who is the creator and lead developer of the Linux kernel. He also created the distributed version control system Git. He was honored, along with Shinya Yam ...

, creator of the

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

kernel. Politicians opposed to the directive included

Michel Rocard Michel Rocard (; 23 August 1930 – 2 July 2016) was a French politician and a member of the Socialist Party (France), Socialist Party (PS). He served as Prime Minister of France, Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 199 ...

Aftermath

As the directive was rejected, pre-existing law has remained in place, and computer-implemented inventions are currently governed by Article 52 of

. Article 52 prohibits certain patents, including patents on ''programs for computers'', but only ''as such''. It is often interpreted by

as well as by courts in EU countries, that invention should have ''technical character''. For example, while a mathematical method is not patentable, the application of such method to electrical filter design would not usually be excluded from patentability by Article 52(2) and (3). Final interpretation of the law in this area thus continues to be the responsibility of national courts, following national case-law (except when a European patent application is refused or when a European patent is revoked in opposition proceedings before the EPO, in which case the EPO has the final say regarding the interpretation of the EPC).

References

Books

* Müller, Florian (2006),
No Lobbyists As Such
', memoir of Florian Müller's role in the controversy from 2004 to 2005.

Articles

* Buck, Tobias (20 June 2005

.
''Dutch Parliament causes EU software patents crisis''
2 July 2004,

The Inquirer ''The Inquirer'' (stylized as TheINQUIRER) was a British technology tabloid website founded by Mike Magee after his departure from ''The Register'' (of which he was one of the founding members) in 2001. In 2006 the site was acquired by Dutch ...

.
''EU assembly throws out bill to harmonise patents''
(6 July 2005),

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

.
''EU ministers endorse patent law''
(7 March 2005),

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

.
''EU parliament votes against software patents bill – EU commission''
(6 July 2005),

Forbes.com ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The c ...

.
''EU software patents directive delayed''
(11 October 2004), iDABC eGovernment News. * ''European Parliament rejects computer-implemented inventions directive'' (6 July 2005).

WikiNews Wikinews is a free-content news wiki and a Wikimedia project, project of the Wikimedia Foundation that works through collaborative journalism through user-created content. Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has distinguished Wikinews from Wikipe ...

.
''European Parliament rejects law on software patents (Update1)''
(6 July 2005), Bloomberg.com. * Guadamuz-Gonzalez, Andrés
''The Software Patent Debate''
1(3)

Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice The ''Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice'' is a monthly peer-reviewed law journal covering intellectual property law and practice, published by Oxford University Press. The journal was established in November 2005. Its founding edito ...

, 196–206 (2006). * Musker, David
"The Great Free Beer Debate"

, 2007, Vol. 2, No. 12, p799 * Sliva, Jan (6 July 2005
''European Parliament nixes software patent law''
BusinessWeek Online
"Software patents law up in the air after Poland pull out"
(19 November 2004), EuroActiv.com. * Mark H. Webbink

, a 2005 article discussing the directive as well as software/business method patents in general.

External links

* ttp://www.patent.gov.uk/about/ippd/faq/softpat.htm FAQ about the directive an
Summary of the issues
, on the

UK Patent Office The Intellectual Property Office of the United Kingdom (often referred to as the UK IPO) is, since 2 April 2007, the operating name of The Patent Office. It is the official government body responsible for intellectual property rights in the UK ...

site
Information on the directive in relation to free software
( FSFE)
Interview with Mark Webbink, Red Hat's deputy General Counsel

News story about defeat of CII directive, 6 July 2005

nosoftwarepatents.com opposes software patents

End Software Patents opposes software patents

by

Ciarán O'Riordan Ciarán (Irish language, Irish spelling) or Ciaran (Scottish Gaelic spelling) is a traditionally male given name of Irish origin. It means "little dark one" or "little dark-haired one", produced by appending a diminutive suffix to ''ciar'' (" ...

The Proper Balance of Competition and Patent Law and Policy (PDF)
(US

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

)
Top reasons why there should be no software patents
( AEL)
Transcript of a 18 November 2005 talk by Richard Stallman on this directive

Studies and working papers

* tp://ftp.cordis.lu/pub/innovation-policy/studies/studies_enforcing_firms_patent_rights.pdf Enforcing small firms' patent rights (PDF)A study funded by the European Commission, Enterprise Directorate-General
The patentability of computer programmes: Discussion of European-level legislation in the field of patents for software (PDF)
working paper of the European Parliament's Directorate-General for Research
List of studies about software patents
{{DEFAULTSORT:Proposed Directive on the Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions Patent law of the European Union Proposed laws Patentability of computer-implemented inventions Lists of proposals