Patent decision

BL number

O/212/12

Concerning rights in

GB1005619.0

Hearing Officer

Mr H Jones

Decision date

25 May 2012

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

AdInsight Limited

Provisions discussed

Sections 1(1)(b) and 1(2)(c)

Keywords

Excluded fields (refused), Inventive step

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The invention relates to a method for allocating telephone numbers to users of an online web page. A company can collect a large amount of information from users of their websites such as web pages viewed, search terms used, and this data can be analysed to determine products the customers may be interested in and increase sales generated through the website. When a customer uses the website but completes a purchase offline, e.g. by telephone, it is possible to associate online information relating to the customer and an offline purchase by assigning a different telephone number to each user of the website. Recycling of telephone numbers is necessary to reduce the number of telephone numbers required and therefore reduce costs. Previously the telephone numbers have been recycled by associating a telephone number with a customer for a predetermined time. The hearing officer found that there was an inventive step over the prior art but that the invention was excluded as a computer program and a method of doing business.

Full decision O/212/12 62Kb