Patent decision

BL number

O/150/07

Concerning rights in

GB 0514161.9

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

[2007] UKIntelP o14807, [2007] UKIntelP o14907, [2007] UKIntelP o15107, [2007] UKIntelP o15207

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.

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