ECIS urges the European Commission to incorporate a provision in the forthcoming Software Patents Directive Proposal safeguarding the ability to create interoperable programs in the interest of competition on the merits and consumer choice.
The European Commission has presented a proposal for a Directive on the protection by patents of computer-implemented inventions. The proposal would not allow patents to be granted for computer programs as such or business methods. Article 6 expressly preserves the application of the provisions on decompilation and interoperability in Directive 91/250/EEC: “Acts permitted under Directive […]