Patent decision
- BL number
- O/150/07
- Concerning rights in
- GB0514161.9
- Hearing Officer
- Mr J Elbro
- Decision date
- 1 June 2007
- Person(s) or Company(s) involved
- Fisher-Rosemount Systems Inc
- Provisions discussed
- PA Act 1977 Section 1(2)
- Keywords
- Excluded fields (allowed), Excluded fields (refused)
- Related Decisions
- O/148/07, O/149/07, O/151/07, O/152/07
Summary
The application related to a process control system which used program objects corresponding to components of the process to provide information to an operator, in terms of an overview of the process operation. The hearing officer followed the four-step approach to the assessment of patentability under section 1(2) approved by the Court of Appeal in Aerotel/Macrossan [2006] EWCA Civ 1371 in determining whether the invention was excluded from patentability. He held that claims to a workstation with the objects stored on it were excluded as claims to a computer program, but claims to a process control system comprising the objects were held not to be excluded provided the claims were clarified to indicate the nature of the information provided.
Full decision O/150/07 60Kb