Yes, this patent is supposed valid but any court would invalidate it. The EU patent bureau has produced a lot of these "method and apparatus". Turns out that one can't patent algorithms, but one can patent the machine composed of a computer running such an algorithm. It is a known loophole and I don't think any of these patents hold up in court.

Actually, I am not even sure that they can enforce anything against a software company with this patent. Someone who distributes a software does not produce an "apparatus" so I am not sure if they can even launch a procedure based on that patent.