Patent decision

BL number

O/402/11

Concerning rights in

GB1110592.1

Hearing Officer

Mr H Jones

Decision date

23 November 2011

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Nicholas David Smith

Provisions discussed

Sections 1(1)(b)

Keywords

Claim construction, Inventive step

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The application relates to an exercise apparatus comprising a balance board arrangement that can be mounted on a separate ball and that a user can stand and balance upon. The board is defined in claim 1 as being substantially flat, although it is noted in the description that this term “substantially flat” could mean “slightly dished at the centre”. The examiner took the view that this gave a particular significance to the meaning of the term “significantly flat” beyond the normal purposive construction of the term, and, as a consequence, rendered the invention obvious in light of prior art patent literature. The Hearing Officer found that the general teaching of the description was to a board having a flat surface or a technically inconsequential departure from flatness. The inventive step argument fell away and the application was remitted to the examiner for grant.

Full decision O/402/11 65Kb