Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions

The European Union (EU) Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions (2002/0047/COD) was a proposal for an EU law which aimed to harmonise EU national patent laws and practices, which involved the granting of patents for computer-implemented inventions provided they meet certain criteria.

Related Topics:
European Union - Harmonise - Patent - Law - Patents for computer-implemented inventions

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The proposal had become a major focus for conflict between those who regarded the directive as a way to codify the case law of the Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office in the sphere of computing, and those who asserted that the directive is an extension of the patentability 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.

Related Topics:
Directive - Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office - Patentability - Copyright

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Following several years of debate, the proposal finally fell when the European Parliament rejected it by an overwhelming majority (648 to 14) in a vote on 6 July 2005. The vote was for the most part the result of a compromise between the different parties, but was to a lesser extent also seen as an expression of Parliament's indignation about the handling of the proposal by the Council of the European Union and the European Commission.

Related Topics:
European Parliament - 6 July - 2005 - Council of the European Union - European Commission

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