Patent decision

BL number
O/214/07
Concerning rights in
GB0225714.5
Hearing Officer
Mr J Elbro
Decision date
31 July 2007
Person(s) or Company(s) involved
Press Star Limited
Provisions discussed
PA Act 1977 Section 1(2)
Keywords
Excluded fields (refused)
Related Decisions
None

Summary

The application related to a system for extracting information from databases via telephone in which data could be retrieved relating to, e.g. car sales, within a desired distance of a telephone dialing code area. 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 the contribution defined by the claims was a system which will extract data from a database, receiving and sending information over a telephonic system, in response to specifying a telephone area code and a location parameter. The benefits alleged by the applicant, or speed and ease of use, could only arise from the choice of which data to use to access the database - there was no change to the telephone system itself. Therefore the claims were excluded from patentability as a computer program as such.

Full decision O/214/07 PDF document36Kb