This comes as a surprise. In the last few years, the debate in Europe around the patentability of software had the European Commission arguing that it was necessary to legislate according to current practice of the European Patent Office (EPO), in a “harmonisation of the status quo”. The EPO should not be granting patents on software, however there are over 30.000 such patents already granted.
Finally the European Commission has ruled that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) can and should question the validity of patents granted by the EPO without following the rules set by the European Patent Convention. While this is not the final word on forbidding the granting of software patents in Europe, nor a solution to the problem, it is a first step in the right direction.
Read the press release of the FFII for more information.