Patent decision
- BL number
- O/170/11
- Concerning rights in
- GB0802302.2
- Hearing Officer
- Mr P Thorpe
- Decision date
- 19 May 2011
- Person(s) or Company(s) involved
- Halliburton Energy Services Inc
- Provisions discussed
- PA 1977 Section 1(2)
- Keywords
- Excluded fields (refused)
- Related Decisions
- O/080/11
Summary
The application related to a method of designing drill bits used to form wellbores in subterranean formations. The method seeks to optimise various drilling characteristics by using computer simulation of the interaction of the designed drill bit and the formation being cut. The Hearing Officer, following the reasoning in Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. v Smith International (North Sea) Ltd & Ors, found that the claimed invention, as a matter of substance, related to excluded matter namely a scheme for performing a mental act and a computer program. The application was refused.
Full decision O/170/11 
70Kb
