Patent decision

BL number

O/058/12

Concerning rights in

GB 0910301.1

Hearing Officer

Mrs S E Chalmers

Decision date

13 February 2012

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Net1 Ueps Technologies, Inc.

Provisions discussed

PA 1977, Section 1(1) and 1(2)

Keywords

Excluded fields (refused), Novelty

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The application is concerned with avoiding identity fraud when conducting electronic financial transactions using magnetic strip or smart cards such as a credit or debit card. According to the invention, verification of the card user’s identity and account(s) is carried out by an independent third party rather than directly with the relevant bank or other financial institution. In use, the user will sign up to the verification service by having his cards read to provide his account details and having his fingerprint scanned to provide an identifier. Following checking of his identity and his accounts, his name, account numbers and fingerprint are then encrypted and stored. When the user wishes to buy something, he will swipe his card through a card reader and scan his fingerprint. These are then encrypted, sent to the verification service and compared with the stored account and fingerprint to confirm his identity before the transaction can go ahead.

The Hearing Officer found that the invention claimed was novel but declined to make a finding on whether it involved an inventive step. She went on to apply the four step test set out in Aerotel/Macrossan and found that the contribution made by the invention fell within excluded fields, namely to methods for doing business and to a computer program as such. The application was refused.

Full decision O/058/12 64Kb