Patent decision

BL number

O/167/07

Concerning rights in

GB 0504887.1

Hearing Officer

Mr P Marchant

Decision date

13 June 2007

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

IGT

Provisions discussed

PA Act 1977 Section 1(2)

Keywords

Excluded fields (refused)

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The application is concerned with a method of operating gaming machines in which players are offered games in which they can exercise a level of skill, strategy or risk. A proportion of the award (whether won or lost) from this play is fed into a steadily increasing jackpot, and the player is then able to win the jackpot in games based only on chance. The underlying idea is that regular players are attracted by the element of skill, strategy and risk, but new players who will be less successful where this element is involved, are not disadvantaged in the long run. The hearing officer applied the four part test set out in the Aerotel and Macrossan judgment, found the invention to be excluded as a method of playing a game or doing business, and refused the application.

Full decision O/167/07 32Kb