Patent decision

BL number

O/140/13

Concerning rights in

GB0916751.1

Hearing Officer

Dr J Houlihan

Decision date

27 March 2013

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

IGT

Provisions discussed

Patents Act 1977 Section 1(2)

Keywords

Excluded fields (refused)

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The application concerns game playing services in game machines, such as slot machines or video poker games. The thrust of the application is to enable game patrons to recover left-amounts which may arise from transactions involving different currencies. This is facilitated by software in the game machine’s logic modules. These left-over amounts can be awarded as cash, prizes or as credits restricted for use in the game operator’s business.

The hearing officer applied the Aerotel/Macrossan test and particularly took account of Symbian, AT&T/CVON and Halliburton. He found that the claims related entirely to a method for doing business and a computer program, as such, and therefore refused the application.

Full decision O/140/13 85Kb