Patent decision

BL number

O/227/20

Concerning rights in

GB1509528.4

Hearing Officer

Mr P Mason

Decision date

11 June 2020

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Mr Thomas Michael Anderson

Provisions discussed

Patents Act 1977 Section 1(2)(c) and (d)

Keywords

Excluded fields (refused)

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The application relates to constructing and controlling groups of incomplete anagrams and their solution vowels. The examiner had concluded the claimed invention was excluded under section 1(2)(c) and (d) as a scheme, rule or method for playing a game and/or the presentation of information. Further the examiner was unable to see anything in the application which could form the basis of a patentable invention. The decision was made on the papers on file.

The Hearing Officer applied the four-step approach set out in the Court of Appeal judgment in Aerotel. He decided that the contribution made by the invention is not technical in nature. He found that the contribution falls solely within excluded subject matter as no more than a scheme or method for playing a game and the presentation of information as such. The application was refused.

Full decision O/227/20 330Kb