Under current EU legislation, computer programs are protected by copyright as literary expressions, but are, in theory, excluded from patentability.
Due to exceptions to this exclusion and differing interpretations of these exceptions in the EU’s Member States, thousands of software patents are registered in Europe every year. The EU’s new proposal will harmonise the laws of Member States.
The proposal states that:
"Member States shall ensure that a computer-implemented invention is patentable on the condition that it is susceptible of industrial application, is new, and involves an inventive step."
"Member States shall ensure that it is a condition of involving an inventive step that a computer-implemented invention must make a technical contribution."
A “technical contribution” is defined as a “contribution to the state of the art in a technical field which is not obvious to a person skilled in the art.”
The Directive will only create a general framework, and Member States’ patent laws will remain the basis for future developments.