Patent decision
- BL number
- O/408/12
- Concerning rights in
- GB0922596.2
- Hearing Officer
- Mr A Bartlett
- Decision date
- 18 October 2012
- Person(s) or Company(s) involved
- Logined BV
- Provisions discussed
- PA 1977 Section 1(2)
- Keywords
- Excluded fields (refused)
- Related Decisions
- None
Summary
The application relates to a method for optimising wellbore production given various constraints. In the first step of the methodology, information is provided on the geological structure from which the hydrocarbons are to be extracted. The macroscopic flow in the reservoir is then modelled using a set of 3-dimensional cuboid elements. Optimised completions (the operations needed to convert the borehole into a productive well) are determined for each cuboid. A Figure of Merit (i.e. Total Net Value) is then determined. An iterative process is then run to optimise the Figure of Merit by repeatedly running the simulator for different Field Development Plans until convergence criteria are met.
The Hearing Officer found that in contrast to the method for designing drill bits deemed patentable in Halliburton, a computer implemented method of developing plans for drilling for, and extracting, oil or gas was too abstract a concept for it to be said to provide a technical contribution. He therefore refused the application as relating to a program for a computer as such. In doing so he applied the four-step Aerotel test and found that the invention did not represent something “specific and external to the computer” in contrast to the invention in Halliburton (where the method concerned determining the technical specification for a tangible, technical item).
Full decision O/408/12 68Kb