I’m too busy at work right now but I did get a response from the EU Commission regarding my earlier query). They send me a .tiff scan of a document - very clever. I’ll post a copy later, but in the meantime, this might be of interest. The reply referenced a transcription of the speech McCreevey gave to the EU Parliament when handing the directive back to them for second reading. In the speech, Mr Mcreevey clearly states:

The Commission proposed to clarify the legal rules on patentability for software-related inventions. This does not include computer programmes or other software as such. It means inventions which make a technical contribution and which are truly novel.

Such inventions are present in a number of everyday consumer goods such as cars, mobile telephones and domestic appliances. The Commission’s intention in making its proposal was to avoid patenting of pure software and clearly differentiate the EU from the US. Nothing that is not patentable now will be made patentable by the directive.

The current rules in the European Patent Convention are out of date and leave a very wide decision-making power in the hands of patent examiners. There can be different interpretations as to whether an invention can be patented. This leads to uncertainty for businesses and small and medium-sized companies in particular are negatively affected by the lack clarity in the existing rules.

I can’t wait to catch up on the whole saga (I’ve been away on vacation in beautiful Barcelona) but I thought this was too good not to post in case it hasn’t been referenced elsewhere. How much truth is in these words will emerge, I’m sure, with time.