Patent decision

BL number

O/829/22

Hearing Officer

Dr L Cullen

Decision date

26 September 2022

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Google LLC

Provisions discussed

Patents Act 1977 - section 1(2)(c); section 1(2)(d),

Keywords

Excluded fields (refused)

Related Decisions

None

Summary

This invention relates to a method for providing a reply to an electronic communication where a number of possibilities for the reply content are selected for presentation via a computing device for inclusion in the reply to the electronic communication-�. selectingand/or

The Hearing Officer, applying the four-step Aerotel test, found that the contribution made by the application was an improved communication process between two users, the alleged improvement lying in a faster and more accurate process for determining and presenting to a user two alternative replies. Considering this contribution in light of the AT&T signposts as modified in HTC, the hearing officer found that this contribution was not technical in nature.

The Hearing officer also considered this that preparing and presenting alternative replies to communications based on features of those communications and subsequently sending a selected one of the alternatives is, essentially, an administrative act and as such it falls within the business method exclusion

As the application was found not to meet the requirements of sections 1(2)(c) of the Act, it was refused under section 18(3) of the Act.

Full decisionO/829/22  338Kb