 However, provides that this exclusion only applies to the extent to which a European patent application or European patent relates to such programs for computers "as such".The interpretation of the exclusion, including the words "as such", have caused applicants, attorneys, examiners, and judges a great deal of difficulty since the EPC came into force in 1978.An interpretation, which is followed by the Boards of Appeal of the EPO, is that an invention is patentable if it provides a new and non-obvious technical solution to a technical problem.