The draft law, which was published in June 2002, currently provides that Member States must:
"ensure that a computer-implemented invention may be claimed as a product, that is as a programmed computer, a programmed computer network or other programmed apparatus, or as a process carried out by such a computer, computer network or apparatus through the execution of software."
The draft Directive stops short of accepting patents for software – although software having a "technical contribution" might be eligible for patenting. Some Member States apparently want the criteria to be further relaxed before the Directive is passed, to make patents for software easier to obtain.
Any such change to the draft can only be made with the unanimous backing of Member States.
The proposed Directive is available from page 17 of a 31-page PDF at:
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/pdf/2002/en_502PC0092.pdf
