EDMJ - clearly I must file my next patent in Germany
Perhaps you can write a more heavyweight contribution to knowledge, since you are a specialist in this field.
My specialisation is electronics and the vast majority of patents I have seen in that field are indeed contrived variations of existing stuff, and some have been clear prior art which the examiner evidently didn't spot.
There is even a big website listing loads of bogus patents like that - most duff due to prior art which the examiner failed to spot. I recall NASA filing one well known such patent.
As stated above, the solution is to "Simply modify your software (if necessary) so that it doesn't match all the tightly-defined steps in the patent".
The catch there is that you could be some way in marketing your product before the other person's patent application is discovered, and then they've got you over a bit of a barrel. The fact that you can get around the issue by a small change is only a partial help.
A standard practice is also to file a patent and then keep amending it (I don't recall the exact terminology) so you can stick "patent pending" or "patent applied for XXXX" (with the application number) on your product for a number of years, and this keeps a lot of would-be (amateur) competitors at bay. I did this back in 1991 with a product I designed. The patent was eventually chucked out, a few years later
Today, I wouldn't bother. But such nuisance patents continue to come out. I am sure this company will be able to do a modification which gets around it.