Patent decision

BL number

O/574/16

Concerning rights in

GB 1203632.3

Hearing Officer

Mrs S E Chalmers

Decision date

6 December 2016

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Omega Holdings Limited

Provisions discussed

PA 1977 Section 1(1(b)

Keywords

Inventive step

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The invention comprises a drinking aid to remind a user to take a drink. This takes the form of a receptacle (in practice a cup) having a lid and a sensor for measuring a state of a beverage within the container (eg a level) and a timer to cause an alert in the event that the beverage state (level) hasn’t altered for a pre-defined period of time. The sensor is mounted on the receptacle and, in embodiments, another sensor such as a sonar device may be mounted in the lid. The drinking aid is also equipped to communicate with a remote monitor in order to, for instance, provide an historical record.

Applying the Windsurfing/Pozzoli test, the claims were found to lack an inventive step. The case was distinguished from Schlumberger Holdings Limited v Electromagnetic Geoservices Ltd [2010] EWCA Civ 819 in that the formation of the team identified as “the skilled person” was considered obvious. The application was refused under section 18(3).

Full decision O/574/16 76Kb