Patent decision

BL number
O/120/07
Concerning rights in
GB 0307663.5
Hearing Officer
Mr P Marchant
Decision date
9 May 2007
Person(s) or Company(s) involved
IGT
Provisions discussed
PA 1977 Section 1(2)
Keywords
Excluded fields (refused)
Related Decisions
None

Summary

In a computer networked system for monitoring gaming machines and tables in a casino, information on player activity is sent to casino employees on portable handheld computers linked to the system allowing them to monitor play, identify the location of players and make awards of free games, goods or services. The contribution was assessed, under the four part test in the Aerotel and Macrossan case, as the use of a known hardware configuration to provide information to staff for them to locate players and output award amounts. The contribution was considered to fall within excluded subject matter as being for a method of doing business. The fact that this particular hardware configuration gives advantages when used for this purpose did not affect that determination.

Full decision O/120/07 PDF document45Kb