Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 May 2004
108 Mr. Cuffe asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment if she proposes to allow the patenting of software implementations for computing; if her attention has been drawn to the difficulties that this may raise in the educational and other sectors; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14674/04]
View answerIt is important to note that computer programmes as such are excluded from patentability by member states' patent laws and the European Patent Convention, EPC, which applies to the operation of the European Patent Office, EPO. However, computer implemented inventions may be patentable under certain conditions and many such patents have already been granted within the EU.
The position facing the Community is that the application of the case law and the administrative practice of member states in this area is divergent. As a result, it is currently possible to patent a particular computer implemented invention in one member state and not in another, with negative consequences for the efficient functioning of the Internal Market.
For this reason, the Commission brought forward, in 2002, a proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions, the aim of which was to rectify this situation and to make the conditions for patentability more transparent — to give innovators and enterprises the ability to compete effectively in the Single Market.
In September 2003, the European Parliament adopted a number of amendments to the proposal. On 18 May, the Competitiveness Council reached political agreement on a common position, based on a proposal put forward by the Irish Presidency, which took account of discussions at EU Council working group, and the Committee of Permanent Representatives. The final text agreed took account of a number of amendments put forward by delegations to further clarify the conditions under which a computer implemented invention might be patented. It will now go back to Parliament for second reading, the next stage in the co-decision process.
I am satisfied that the agreement reached represents a good balance and will be beneficial for both innovators and users of computer implemented inventions throughout the Union.
Article 6 of the agreed position provides that acts permitted under articles 5 and 6 of Directive 91/250/EEC on the legal protection of computer programs by copyright, and, in particular, the provisions in respect of decompilation and interoperability are not affected by the rights to be conferred by the proposed directive. The proposed directive also makes clear that the provisions of articles 81 and 82, which relate to competition rules, and, in particular, abuse of a dominant position, apply.
In addition, the text as agreed makes it explicit that a computer program as such cannot constitute a patentable invention and that inventions involving computer programs, whether expressed as source code, object code or any other form, which implement business, mathematical or other methods and do not produce any technical effects beyond the normal physical interactions between a programme and the computer, network or other programmable apparatus in which it is run shall not be patentable.
