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EPO's case law.
Can a simulation as such be patented at the EPO?
Yes, it can. However, only under specific circumstances.
According to G1/19, if the output of a simulation is intrinsically
technical, the simulation can be patented. A simulation can be
patented if it is adapted to the internal functioning of the
computer on which it is executed. Other criteria, as for example
mentioned in the amicus briefs, were found to be not
sufficient.
In particular, it is not sufficient that the simulated system is
technical. For example, in the decision "Circuit
Simulation" of 2006, an algorithm for producing pink noise is
applied to an electrical circuit that is affected by the noise. In
that decision, the Board of Appeal found that the simulation as
such is sufficiently technical. That decision, according to the new
G-decision is no good law any longer.
