Patent decision

BL number
O/180/09
Concerning rights in
GB0700698.4
Hearing Officer
Mr B Micklewright
Decision date
29 June 2009
Person(s) or Company(s) involved
HSBC France
Provisions discussed
Patents Act 1977 Sections 1(1)(b), 1(1)(d), 1(2)(c) and 3
Keywords
Excluded fields (refused)
Related Decisions
None

Summary

The invention related to a method for authenticating a user by a provider where the provider transmits a rule to the user which extracts a certain number of characters from a code such as a password or PIN, known both to the user and the provider, the authentication of the user being dependent on whether the user correctly returns the extracted characters, and where the code is generated by the provider previous to a particular request for authentication by the user. The first of these features was disclosed in two prior art documents cited by the examiner including an internet article whose date was disputed by the applicant. The hearing officer found that the date of the internet article was valid and that the claimed invention lacked an inventive step over the cited prior art and the common general knowledge of the person skilled in the art. The hearing officer also found that the invention related to a method of doing business as such and was therefore excluded from patentability.

Full decision O/180/09 PDF document305Kb