Hi,
I'm in foreign lands right now and low on time, so I don't have much time to research this fully. However, there seems to be an interesting new proposal from the US and some major bodies there for patents. Read the summary at Groklaw and follow the links to read the report and its executive summary.
http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20040428200118940
Éibhear
-- Éibhear Ó hAnluain IFSO Ireland.