Can software be patented in Europe?

Software as such is excluded, but a computer-implemented invention that solves a technical problem in a technical way is patentable. The claim must contribute something beyond a business or mathematical result.

What counts as a technical effect at the EPO?

Examples accepted in practice include reduced memory or bandwidth use, improved security, more reliable data transmission, and control of a physical process or device.

Do we need a working implementation before filing?

No, but the application must describe the implementation in enough detail that a skilled person can carry it out across the scope claimed.

Practice areas · CII

Software & Computer-Implemented Inventions

Drafting and prosecution before the EPO and DKPTO, built around the technical-effect requirement.

Overview

Software patenting in Europe turns on one question: does the claimed subject matter produce a technical effect? We draft claims around the technical contribution — data structures, resource use, security, control of a process — rather than the business outcome, and we prosecute them directly before the EPO and the Danish Patent and Trademark Office. Where US protection matters, we coordinate filings and §101 eligibility strategy through vetted associates.

What we do

Patentability assessment against the EPO two-hurdle approach
Drafting with a technical-effect-first claim architecture
Direct prosecution before the EPO and DKPTO
Response to Article 52/56 objections and examiner interviews
Coordination of US filings and §101 eligibility strategy via associates
Divisional and continuation strategy across a software portfolio

Questions

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