Patent decision

BL number

O/361/04

Concerning rights in

GB0415595.8

Hearing Officer

Mr G M Rogers

Decision date

9 December 2004

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Epic Systems Corporation

Provisions discussed

PA; 1977 Section 1(2)(c)

Keywords

Excluded fields (refused)

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The specification discloses a system and method for the self-scheduling of appointments using a computer network. A user sends a request to a server and the request is checked against a pre-authorised scheduling ticket and/or a set of rules. If the request is allowable an appointment is offered to the user. It was argued firstly that the claims did not relate to a business method or computer program, in that there was a notional product (an appointment document), that the system claim comprised hardware and that the claims comprised a number of technical features. Secondly, it was argued that even if the claims did relate to a business method or a computer program, they contained a technical contribution. Both arguments were rejected by the hearing officer who held that the method claim comprised business process steps, the system claim comprised conventional hardware components distinguished only by the program loaded on the system, and neither claims contained a technical contribution.

Full decision O/361/04 67Kb