Patent decision
- BL number
- O/1218/24
- Concerning rights in
- GB2210160.4
- Hearing Officer
- Dr L Starrs
- Decision date
- 24 December 2024
- Person(s) or Company(s) involved
- Cantor Technologies Ltd
- Provisions discussed
- Patents Act 1977 section 1(1)(b)
- Keywords
- Inventive step
- Related Decisions
- None
Summary
The application concerns the formation of a through hole vertical interconnect access (via) in printed circuit boards (PCBs) to improve vertical transmission of high frequency signals. Product claims were directed towards a substrate comprising a via formed by drilling, at an angle, three times through at least one layer of the substrate where the inner surface of the hole is provided with at least two conductive tracks.
An impasse had been reached on the issue of whether the claims to the substrate comprised an inventive step and a request for a decision by a hearing officer based on the papers on file was made. The hearing officer noted the presence of an independent method claim to which no objection had been raised and limited their decision to the claims directed towards the substrate only.
The hearing officer considered the obviousness of the product, applying the Windsurfing/Pozzoli test. The hearing officer concluded that the claims directed to the substrate lacked an inventive step over the prior art and common general knowledge. Noting the presence of method claims to which no objection had been raised, the hearing officer remitted the application to the examiner to complete examination before the expiry of the compliance date.
Full decision O/1218/24 
292Kb
