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United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office Decisions |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office Decisions >> Research Affiliates, LLC (Patent) [2009] UKIntelP o03209 (2 February 2009) URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKIntelP/2009/o03209.html Cite as: [2009] UKIntelP o03209, [2009] UKIntelP o3209 |
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For the whole decision click here: o03209
Summary
The invention related to the generation of an index of financial entities for the passive management of a securities portfolio. Applying the Aerotel test in the light of Symbian, the hearing officer held that the contribution was the generation of an index which was built and non-equally weighted on the basis of metrics which did not depend on market capitalization or share price, thus avoiding the volatility inherent in conventional market capitalization-based indexes. Refusing the application, he held that the contribution was solely a business method (analogous to the Macrossan invention in Aerotel) and (in the light of Symbian) a mental act but not solely a mathematical method or computer program, and was not technical in nature. The hearing officer did not accept (i) that the commercial success of the invention and its recognition as a significant advance by industry experts were relevant to whether the invention was excluded, (ii) that because the invention might be said to result in a “tradeable product” it avoided exclusion, or (iii) that because the invention required the technical skills of a “financial engineer” to devise it the contribution became technical in nature.