Patent decision

BL number

O/421/19

Concerning rights in

GB1515481.8

Hearing Officer

Mr P Mason

Decision date

22 July 2019

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

GE Aviation Systems LLC

Provisions discussed

Patents Act 1977 Section 1(2)

Keywords

Excluded fields (refused)

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The application is concerned with managing a maintenance routine for an aircraft with a maintenance system comprising multiple mobile communication terminals such as laptops located about the aircraft in data communication with each other. A controller executes a maintenance software program comprising maintenance tests corresponding to components of the aircraft. A maintenance test is assigned to the terminal located closest to a component under test. An ultimate user, such as the pilot, is allowed via their terminal to take control of a maintenance test being executed by a user at a different terminal.

The Hearing Officer applied the four-step test set out in the Court of Appeal judgment in Aerotel and considered the AT&T signposts. 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 program for a computer and a method for doing business as such. The application was refused.

Full decision O/421/19 279Kb