] For the last few years the European Patent Office (EPO)
] has, contrary to the letter and spirit of the existing
] law, granted more than 30000 patents on
] computer-implemented rules of organisation and
] calculation (programs for computers). Now Europe's patent
] movement is pressing to consolidate this practise by
] writing a new law. Europe's programmers and citizens are
] facing considerable risks.

Software patents are a much riskier business. Instead of patenting the method for producting widgets, some people are making patents for scrollbars, mouseclicks, and other standard building blocks of modern software....

FFII: Software Patents in Europe