The European Patent Office has been receiving patent and utility models from Taiwan published from the beginning of 2000. The information will be issued from the end of January 2001. Turkey became a member of the European Patent Organisation. The Administrative Council of the EPO wants a broad public consultation at European and National level on the introduction of a grace period in European Patent Law. The Commission also proposed a draft directive aimed at harmonising national applications and interpretation of rules on patentability of computer programs.
Business methods are as such explicitly excluded from patentability.
However, a product or a method which is of a technical nature may be patentable, even if the claimed subject matter defines or at least involves a business method. As a result, the EPO has now re-started processing applications and oppositions involving plants and animals which had been held up for several years.