An early scanned display with raster computer graphics was invented in the late 1960s by A. Michael Noll at Bell Labs, but its patent application filed February 5, 1970 was abandoned at the Supreme Court in 1977 over the issue of the patentability of computer software.

In Europe, " computer programs as such " are excluded from patentability and European Patent Office policy is consequently that a program for a computer is not patentable if it does not have the potential to cause a " further technical effect " beyond the inherent technical interactions between hardware and software.

Following several landmark decisions by this court, by the early 1990s the patentability of software was well established, and in 1996 the USPTO issued Final Computer Related Examination Guidelines stating that " A practical application of a computer-related invention is statutory subject matter.

Analysis of software patentability in Europe Chapter 11 of Software Patents-Legal Perspectives, pages 192-209, 2007.

25 ) that " The decisions of the EPO Boards of Appeal this software patentability area are mutually contradictory " and ( also at para.

* Gottschalk v. Benson, a United States Supreme Court case on the patentability of computer software or algorithms ( 1972 )

Supporters, however, argued that this was not the case since the proposal explained in several locations ( pages 11, 14, 24, 25 ) that there should be no extension to the existing scope of patentability for computer programs and that pure business methods implemented in software would not be patentable.

On 24 September 2003, the European Parliament passed the directive in a heavily amended form, which placed significant limits on the patentability of software.

Critics of the Directive argued that the " technical character " requirement was open to too much interpretation and could lead to almost unlimited patentability of software.

with EICTA stating that " Those who depict the draft directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions as some sort of ' software patent law ' are at best misinformed and at worst dishonest, malicious and disrespectful of the European democratic process ".

* The patentability of computer programmes: Discussion of European-level legislation in the field of patents for software ( PDF ), working paper of the European Parliament's Directorate-General for Research

In 2003, he led again a campaign against the patentability of software in Europe.

Subsequently, in 1967, Brooks opposed the move of the US Patent Office to attempt to introduce guidelines for software patentability.

There are several arguments commonly given in defense of software patents or in defense of the patentability of computer-implemented inventions.

The WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights ( TRIPs ), particularly Article 27, is occasionally referenced in the political debate on the international legal framework for the patentability of software, and on whether software and computer-implemented inventions should be considered as a field of technology.

Its relevance for patentability in the domains of, for example, computer-implemented business methods, computer science and software information technology remains uncertain, since the TRIPs agreement is subject to interpretation, like all legal texts.

Thus, if the invention as a whole meets the requirements of patentability — that is, it involves " transforming or reducing an article to a different state or thing "— it is patent-eligible, even if it includes a software component.

A summary of the developments concerning patentability of computer programs under the European Patent Convention is given in ( see G 3 / 08 ) as a response of the Enlarged Board of Appeal to questions filed by the President of the European Patent Office according to Art.

United Kingdom patent law is interpreted to have the same effect as the European Patent Convention such that " programs for computers " are excluded from patentability to the extent that a patent application relates to a computer program " as such ".

Under the EPC, and in particular its Article 52, " programs for computers " are not regarded as inventions for the purpose of granting European patents, but this exclusion from patentability only applies to the extent to which a European patent application or European patent relates to a computer program as such.

In Schlumberger, it was decided that not any use of a computer program disallows patentability.

Rather than confirming the practice of granting patents for computer programs which provide a technical contribution, the revised directive placed substantial limits on patentability.

Diamond v. Diehr,, was a 1981 U. S. Supreme Court decision which held that controlling the execution of a physical process, by running a computer program did not preclude patentability of the invention as a whole.

excludes " programs for computers " from patentability ( Art.

The questions which were the subject of the referral related to the patentability of programs for computers under the European Patent Convention ( EPC ) and were, according to the President of the EPO, of fundamental importance as they related to the definition of " the limits of patentability in the field of computing.

* EU Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions ( proposed, then rejected )

* Proposed directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions

Some of the more politically sensitive items in his portfolio were the draft Community Patent regulation and the draft Directives on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions and services in the internal market, the so-called " Bolkestein Directive ", which has become the focus of heated debate.

The Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions ( Commission proposal COM ( 2002 ) 92 ), procedure number 2002 / 0047 ( COD ) was a proposal for a European Union ( EU ) directive aimed to harmonise national patent laws and practices concerning the granting of patents for computer-implemented inventions, provided they meet certain criteria.

Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions

In 2003, it strongly but indirectly lobbied the European Parliament against the proposed Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions.

# REDIRECT Proposed directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions

# REDIRECT Proposed directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions

One aspect of the debate has focused on the proposed European Union directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions, also known as the " CII Directive " or the " Software Patent Directive ," which was ultimately rejected by the EU Parliament in July 2005.

* Proposed EU Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions

# REDIRECT Proposed directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions

# REDIRECT Proposed directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions

# REDIRECT Proposed directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions

# REDIRECT Proposed directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions

# REDIRECT Proposed directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions

# REDIRECT Proposed directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions

# REDIRECT Proposed directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions

# REDIRECT Proposed directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions

# REDIRECT Proposed directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions