Patent decision

BL number

O/313/17

Concerning rights in

GB1312256.9

Hearing Officer

Mr H Jones

Decision date

7 July 2017

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Woodward MPC Inc.

Provisions discussed

Section 1(1)(b)

Keywords

Inventive step

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The application relates to a relates to a variable differential transformer position sensing device, which are commonly produced in linear (LVDT) and rotary (RVDT) formats, and often deployed in large numbers in aerospace applications. Conventional LVDT and RVDT sensors typically use five wires at the electrical interface for the transducer but the invention has only three. Based on prior art documents identified by the examiner, the hearing officer found that three-wire transducers were known and that the differences between the invention and the prior art were the correction for both temperature of the transducer and for non-linear effects. These differences were found to be obvious. Possible saving amendments were identified and the applicant was allowed a period of time to amend the application. The case would then be referred back to the examiner for further processing.

Full decision O/313/17 277Kb