Patent decision

BL number
O/303/08
Concerning rights in
GB0408527.0
Hearing Officer
Mr R C Kennell
Decision date
7 November 2008
Person(s) or Company(s) involved
John Darrell Foley
Provisions discussed
PA 1977 sections 1(1), 76(2)
Keywords
Added subject matter, Inventive step, Novelty
Related Decisions
None

Summary

The application disclosed a traction and exercise apparatus for relief particularly of lower back pain, in which a ladder was provided on a frame so that the patient could ascend, descend, bend or twist whilst under traction from above and/or below from springs attached at one end to the frame and at the other to a belt around the user’s torso. The hearing officer held that insofar as the scope of the invention could be determined, it was not new and did not involve an inventive step having regard to an earlier application by the a same applicant, the only differences being relatively minor modifications such as would be made by the skilled person as part of the common general knowledge in the art. The applicant’s proposed amendment was not allowable because it disclosed features which were clearly not present in the application as originally filed. Since there was nothing new or inventive in the in the original disclosure, the hearing officer found that it was not possible to amend the application and refused the application.

Full decision O/303/08 PDF document63Kb