EU Software Patents Directive Hangs in Balance After Poland Withdraws Support

On 16 November 2004, Poland withdrew its support for the EU draft Directive on the Patentability of Computer –Implemented Inventions. The Directive seeks to codify and harmonise different EU national laws for computer programs including the treatment of software patents. The Polish cabinet decided that it would not support the directive as it is too vague and, in its present form, does not rule out the possibility of patenting software or business methods.

The original text proposed by the Commission was approved by Parliament on 24 September 2003 after a series of amendments which placed significant limits on the patentability of software. Parliament’s amendments were a major defeat for the directive’s original proponents. Rather than being a confirmation of the global practice of granting software patents, the Parliament’s version placed substantial limits on patentability. Under the co-decision procedure, the Council on 18 May 2004 submitted a compromise version of the proposal