Not patentable: 2a. (a) mathematical methods;
'In Europe, they argue, where an invention involves novel software, a patent owner is entitled "to control the distribution of computer disks and internet downloads of the programs which configure an apparatus to perform a patented process"'
Not true. A process like that would be an algorithm, a mathematical method, that comes under 2a. and is not patentable in Europe.
"(1) European patents shall be granted for any inventions which are susceptible of industrial application, which are new and which involve an inventive step.
(2) The following in particular shall not be regarded as inventions within the meaning of paragraph 1:
(a) discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
(b) aesthetic creations;
(c) schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing games or doing business, and programs for computers;
(d) presentations of information."