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Determining a threshold of operational parameters of a nuclear reactor: technical

This case is already a few years old but relates to one of the hottest current topics: the patentability of computer simulations. The overall question was whether the purpose of the simulation and the nature of the processed data confer technical character to a method. 

Here are the practical takeaways from the decision T 0625/11 () of 19.1.2017 of Technical Board of Appeal 3.4.01:

Key takeaways

The determination, as a threshold value, of the value of the first operating parameter confers a technical character on the claim, this technical character exceeding the simple interaction between the numerical simulation algorithm and the computer system. The nature of the parameter is, in fact, intimately linked to the operation of a nuclear reactor, whether this parameter is actually used within a nuclear reactor or not.

The invention

This European patent application generally concerns the simulation of the operation of a nuclear reactor.

According to the description, it is desirable to operate nuclear reactors at reduced power when demand on the network is low, before reverting to nominal power, as necessary. But such use of a nuclear reactor, which would allow its capabilities to be better used, should not result in safety problems.

An objective of the invention was therefore to provide a method which allows at least one threshold value of an operational parameter of a nuclear reactor to be established, allowing the capabilities of the reactor to be better used, while maintaining safe operation of the reactor.

Fig. 1 of EP1556870A1
Fig. 1 of EP1556870A1

Here is how the invention was defined in claim 1:

  • Claim 1 (main request)

Is it patentable?

The first-instance examining division had refused the patent application for lack of inventive step. The main argument was that the only technical feature was the computer implementation of the method, whereas the various steps of the claimed process had no effect on a technical subject, being limited to the calculation of a value.

On the appeal stage, first of all the board made clear that all of the steps of claim 1 are undoubtedly carried out by the computer system mentioned in the claim. Accordingly, patent-eligibility was no issue.

The board then went on to contrast “two approaches” in the context of inventive step with each other:

According to the “first approach”, the computer-implementation was considered to be the only technical aspect of claim 1, but not the actual simulation performed by the method. The board noted that if this approach was adopted, it would have been obvious to implement the excluded method on a standard computer system (the citations are translated from the French original):

7.2.4 … Failure to take into account the nature of the data processed or the aim pursued by the claimed method, according to the hypothesis retained above under the first approach, would then lead to the finding that the object of claim 1 of the main request is not inventive within the meaning of Article 56 EPC.

Accordingly, the board found that there would be a lack of inventive step if the nature of the processed data and the purpose of the claimed method was disregarded as non-technical.

The “second approach” was of course pursued by the appellant and relied, among others, on T 1227/05 (OJ EPO 2007, 574) and T 471/05. Accordingly, the board noted:

7.3.2 … In the present circumstances, the recognition of a technical nature linked to the use of the threshold value resulting from the simulation of an effective operation of a nuclear reactor would lead to a significantly more specific redefinition of the objective technical problem solved by the invention. Contrary to what the approach based on the sole use of technical means implies, the aspects linked to the operation of the nuclear reactor would then have a role to play in defining the objective problem to be solved. Likewise, the recognition of a technical nature inherent in the data taken into account within the framework of the simulation, would also lead to a necessary reformulation of the problem to be solved.

In the present case, the definition of the technical problem adopted by the applicant appears realistic. The invention would aim at determining at least one limit value of an operating parameter of a nuclear reactor in order to allow better use of the latter’s capacities.

In the context of this approach, the board notes that none of the documents cited against the request offers the claimed solution.

Of course, the question was then which approach was the correct one. After a detailed comparison of existing case law, the board followed the approach taken in T 1227/05:

In agreement with the appellant, the Board considers, in the present case, that the question before it is, in principle, identical to the question which arose in Board 3.5.01 in T 1227/05. In the present case, the Board is also convinced that steps b), c) and d) of the claimed process serve the stated objective of determining an operating limit value for the nuclear reactor.

Accordingly, the board ultimately adopted the “second approach”:

8.4 At the end of the deliberation of the board, the latter came to the conclusion that the determination, as a threshold value, of the value of the first operating parameter conferred a technical character on the claim, this technical character exceeding the simple interaction between the numerical simulation algorithm and the computer system. The nature of the parameter thus identified is, in fact, intimately linked to the operation of a nuclear reactor, whether this parameter is actually used within a nuclear reactor or not. In doing so, the board recognizes the relevance of the analysis developed in case T 1227/05 which it takes up for itself. Likewise, in the opinion of the board, this finding leads to retain the analysis developed above (cf. point 7) under the second possible approach and therefore to conclude that the subject of claim 1 according to the main request is inventive within the meaning of Article 56 EPC 1973.

Therefore, the appealed decision was set aside and the case was remitted to the first instance with the order to grant a patent.

More information

You can read the whole decision here: T 0625/11 () of 19.1.2017

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Centralized vs. distributed gaming system: technical (but obvious)

In this case, the Board of Appeal had to decide whether the shifting from a distributed gaming system to a more centralised architecture involves an inventive step. Here are the practical takeaways from the decision T 0683/17 of 3.12.2020 of Technical Board of Appeal 3.4.03:

Key takeaways

The skilled person (a computer programming expert in gaming/betting systems) is aware of the advantages and disadvantages of a particular distribution of known functionalities in a centralised computer system as part of their common general knowledge.

The invention

This European patent application concerns a roulette betting system and a method for playing a modified version of roulette.

The betting system includes a central server system which comunicates over the Internet with one or more electronic roulette gaming areas. The central server system includes a series of servers carrying out various operations (a draw server with a random number generator to “spin” the electronic roulette, a database server, a bet acceptance server, an authentication server and a table management server.

The electronic roulette gaming area includes a central table including an electronic representation of a roulette wheel and electronic user interfaces (clients) for each player, such that the players can place their bets and follow the game. An embodiment is shown in Fig. 4:

Fig. 4 of EP 2 811 472
Fig. 4 of EP 2 811 472

The modified roulette game consists in a series of roulette spins. After each spin the drawn number is removed from the game and replaced by a randomly selected number among the remaining numbers. After each round the odds of the game are calculated anew before the players can place bets.

But the roulette modification is less important in this case because the apparatus claims of the main request refer only to a central server system without any details about the actual modified roulette game.

More precisely, here is how the invention was defined in claim 1:

  • Claim 1 (main request)

Is it patentable?

The first-instance examining division had refused the patent application based on a lack of inventive step of the main request.

On the appeal, the board started its inventive-step assessment from a document (D5) which describes a roulette betting system comprising a remote central server and a table with an electronic display of a roulette wheel.

According to the board, the only difference between this system and the claimed one was the distribution of the various components:

3.3 Comparing the claimed system to the one in D5, the only differences relate to the distributed system architecture. In claim 1 of the Main Request a series of servers (database server, draw server, etc.) are defined, which are implemented within the central server system and carry out the various functionalities of the claimed betting system. In D5, the same functionalities are distributed between the central controller and the table(s). In addition, in D5 there is no mention of separate servers as in the claimed system, but rather of controllers and programs (instructions) executed in the central controller.

3.4 The claimed system has, thus, a more centralised architecture, since the various functionalities are implemented at the central server system and none of them locally, at the gaming table(s) or areas.

The question whether this difference contributes to the technical character of the invention was not even raised by the board. The board thus immediately spend thoughts on whether the shift in architecture was obvious:

3.4 […] The board considers such an architecture of a centralised computer system generally known in the art. Its advantages and disadvantages with respect to a distributed architecture are also commonly known. It is known, for example, that a system whose operation is controlled centrally can be more flexible in that additional peripherals (gaming areas in the present context) can be added more easily, since all the necessary functionalities are controlled/carried out by/at the central server. Costs can be also saved in that the peripherals do not need to have the necessary resources to carry out functionalities which are executed by/at the central server. A centralised server can also control better the security of the whole network. On the other hand, it is also known that in a distributed implementation, with various functionalities carried out at/by (some of) the peripheral devices, technical problems (malfunctions) can be treated locally at the device (peripheral) where they occur without risking the operation of the whole system. Hence, when, for example, the “spinning” of the virtual wheel does not operate correctly at a table, only the table manager of the specific table has to be repaired, while the other tables can continue playing normally.

The board further noted that D5 provided some indication about a possible centralised implementation of the system, where the description stated explicitly that “[t]he controller 108 may be programmed to perform any or all of the functions described herein …” and “[i]t is particularly contemplated that the table 34 may be a thin client controlled by the controller 108 …”.

3.8 In the board’s view, such hints would be sufficient for the skilled person to contemplate a centralised implementation of the described system in D5, where the various functionalities are carried out by the central controller. Moreover, the board considers that the skilled person (a computer programming expert in gaming/betting systems) would be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of a particular distribution of known functionalities in a centralised computer system as part of their common general knowledge (see point 3.4 above).

3.9 The board is, therefore, convinced that the skilled person would select between a centralised and a distributed implementation of the various functionalities of the gaming system in an obvious manner, based on the circumstances and using only common general knowledge.

Accordingly, the board concluded that claim 1 of the main request did not involve an inventive step. Since the auxiliary requests were not admitted, the appeal was dismissed.

More information

You can read the whole decision here: T 0683/17 of 3.12.2020

On 26 January 2021 at 20:00 CET we will host an event on Clubhouse👋 where we can casually discuss the decision. Feel invited to stop by!

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Illustrations on a scale carrying cognitive content: technical

In this decision, the board of appeal assessed whether “illustrations”, in the context of a claim for a system, imply the presence of a concrete physical medium carrying the illustrations. Here are the practical takeaways from the decision T 0670/19 of 20.11.2020 of Technical Board of Appeal 3.2.01:

Key takeaways

The implicit presence of a physical medium does thus confer technical character to at least part of the subject-matter of the independent claim and this regardless of a possibly non-technical nature of the cognitive content of the illustrations carried by or displayed on the physical medium “per se”.

The invention

This European patent application concerns scales for performing clinical assessment of an individual, in particular to effectively rate lip fullness or the severity of perioral lines or oral commissures.

According to the application, such scales would be useful in both clinical practice and clinical trial research. Particularly, in clinical trial research, objective quantification is critical to measure the efficacy of an investigational treatment by comparing the severity of a condition before treatment to that measured after treatment. For a new treatment to achieve regulatory approval for marketing, its efficacy must be documented in clinical trials. Valid and reliable outcome measures are also important in evidence-based medicine to provide comparisons among similarly designed trials in the literature.

Fig. 3 of EP 2 369 956
Fig. 3 of EP 2 369 956

Here is how the invention was defined in claim 1:

  • Claim 1 (main request)

Is it patentable?

The first-instance examining division had refused the patent application based on the conclusion that claim 1 related to abstract subject-matter excluded from patentability under Articles 52(2) and (3) EPC.

On appeal, the board did not agree that claim 1 is excluded from patentability and concured with the appellant that the invention as claimed does not relate to purely abstract subject-matter in the meaning of Articles 52(2) and (3) EPC. Instead, the board confirmed that claim 1 does have a technical character:

Claim 1 relates to a system comprising a plurality of scales each of them being associated with one specific characteristic of the mouth area, wherein each scale comprises in turn a plurality of illustrations representing different severity levels of the respective characteristic. The Board is convinced by the argument of the appellant that the feature “illustration”, in the context of a claim for a system, does imply the presence of a concrete physical medium carrying said illustrations and from which they can be viewed or displayed, for example a sheet of paper, a board, a display or the screen of a computer or tablet. The implicit presence of a physical medium does thus confer technical character to at least part of the subject-matter of the independent claim and this regardless of a possibly non-technical nature of the cognitive content of the illustrations carried by or displayed on the physical medium “per se”. Therefore, unlike the assessment of the examining division, the Board agrees with the appellant that the subject-matter of claim 1 is an invention within the the meaning of Article 52(1) EPC as it does not fall under the exceptions to patentability presented in Article 52(2) and (3) EPC.

Accordingly, the appeal was set aside and the board remitted the case to the examining division for further prosecution.

More information

You can read the whole decision here: T 0670/19 of 20.11.2020

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An objective approach to the assessment of inventive step for computer-implemented inventions (RICOH case)

This is an important decision when it comes to the patentability of software. 

On the merits, the European Patent Office revoked a software patent for order management with the decision T 0172/03 (Order management/RICOH) of 27.11.2003 of Technical Board of Appeal 3.5.01. Here are the practical takeaways from the decision:

Catchword

The RICOH case provides an objective approach to the assessment of inventive step for computer-implemented inventions. It teaches to identify first the claimed features which define the non-technical part of the invention, and then to identify the claimed features that are clearly technical.

The invention

This European patent application concerns an order management system and method for automatically placing an order for particular expendable supplies based on order information input from each department or section of a user of the system. Expendable supplies or parts are such as copy papers or toner cartridge used in an office.

The aim of the solution is to provide an order management system and method which can unitarily and automatically manage ordering processes based on order information supplied by each department or section.

Fig. 1 of EP 0 767 436

Here is how the invention was defined in claim 1:

  • Claim 1 (main request)

Is it patentable?

The first-instance examining division had refused the application for lack of inventive step.

According to the reasons given in its decision, the regime of patentable subject-matter was only entered with the design and programming of the computerized system for implementing the improved order placing mechanism. The examining division considered such an implementation obvious, taking into account that the relevant skilled person was a computer science expert, actually a team comprising a business expert and a programmer, who had the knowledge of the economic concept and structure of the improved order placing mechanism.

On appeal, the board gave a nice summary on relevant case law and practice of the EPO for assessing inventive step.

3. According to the case law and practice of the EPO, the patentability of an invention, for which inventive step is a requirement, must arise from features and aspects of the invention from which a technical solution to a technical problem can be inferred and which are thus of a technical character (see, for example, the PBS-decision (T 931/95) and the COMVIK decision (T 641/00 – Two identities/COMVIK, OJ EPO 2003, 352), points 2 and 3, respectively).

In the case of a mixed-type invention (including non- technical aspects), examination for patentability normally requires an analysis of the invention and the construction of the claims to determine the technical content of the claims as a prerequisite step (see, in respect of inventive step, the COMVIK and PBS decisions, points 7 and 8, respectively). The required analysis of claim features is possible only ex post facto, i.e. in knowledge of the patent application and the invention to which it relates.

The appellant objected inter alia that the examination approach in this decision was based on a fictitious kind of prior art and unlawful ex post facto considerations.

According to the board:

5. …the prerequisite step of determining the technical features and aspects of a mixed-type invention is not part of the prior art analysis. Certainly, an ex post facto knowledge of the patent application and the claimed invention cannot be avoided completely in judging inventive step; what should strictly be avoided are retrospective considerations and conclusions in evaluating the technical contribution the invention provides to the relevant prior art (see decision T 967/97 – Chipkarte/OVD KINEGRAM AG, not published in OJ EPO, point 3.3).

Furthermore, the board gave definition for the term “person skilled in the art”

6. …According to the COMVIK decision, point 8, the “skilled person will be an expert in a technical field”. The decision goes on to state: “If the technical problem is concerned with a computer implementation of a business, actuarial or accountancy system, the skilled person will be someone skilled in data processing, and not merely a businessman, actuary or accountant.”

7. Indeed, Article 18 EPC determines that an examining division in principle consists of three technically qualified examiners. The examining division is thus, due to its composition, neither professionally competent to evaluate the state of “non-technological art” nor to assess innovations in a non-technological field. It would be inconsistent with the terms and objects of the EPC to attribute an essentially different professional competence to the “person skilled in the art” within the meaning of Article 56 EPC, for example by construing this term to include business experts or practitioners in other non-technological fields. Even if there may be borderline areas, like system analysis and design which are based on rather abstract and intellectual activities but nevertheless provide important results for developing complex software systems (see decision T 49/99-Information modelling/INTERNATIONAL COMPUTERS, not published in OJ EPO, point 7), this should not divert from the principle that the skilled person within the meaning of Article 56 EPC is a technical expert, professional or practitioner.

In the present case, the board defined the relevant “person skilled in the art” as a software project team. It does not include any business expert, but it has knowledge of the business-related features and aspects of the order management method, in the kind of a requirements specification, as part of the formulation of the technical problem to be solved.

The board also gave definition for the term “state of the art”

8. …as explained in the COMVIK decision, point 2, the term “state of the art” in Article 54 EPC should, in compliance with the French and German text, be understood as “state of technology”, which in the context of the EPC does not include the state of the art in commerce and business methods.

9. The term “state of the art” should be interpreted in its legal context, and in the light of the object and purpose of the patentability requirements of the EPC.

In the present case, the board considered the closest prior art to be a distributed information system comprising multiple general purpose computers at different locations and connected by a communication network as known and in use in a vast number of companies for office automation well before the priority year 1995.

As a summary, the board considered that the claimed invention was distinguished from a normal distributed information system only in terms of functional features and data structures for implementing the essentially business-related features of the order management method. The claimed technical solution did not go beyond the concept of a mere automation of constraints imposed by the business-related aspects, such automation using conventional hardware and programming methods being considered obvious to the skilled person. Therefore, the European patent application was invoked for lack of inventive step.

You can read the whole decision here: T 0172/03 (Order management/RICOH) of 27.11.2003

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Distributing rewards by assigning users to partial areas of an advertisement banner: technical

In this decision, the board of appeal once more used the concept of the notional business person to draw the line between technical and non-technical features. Here are the practical takeaways from the decision T 2314/16 (Distributing rewards by assigning users to partial advertisement display areas/RAKUTEN) of 7.9.2020 of Technical Board of Appeal 3.5.01:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/53DYF0a2J8uvSM0mZBusWw?si=rpoQd5vHSSGmbItH1hRKLA

Catchword

The specification of the business method ended with how to determine the reward distribution ratio. The features of dividing the advertisement display area into partial areas and allocating each partial area to a user such that when the partial area is clicked on the user gets a reward, were based on technical considerations of the web page system. It was not motivated by any business considerations. … In order to come up with this idea, one needs to understand how a web site is built, and in particular how an image map works. Thus, this feature cannot be part of the non-technical requirements. Instead it is part of the solution that has to be evaluated for obviousness. (See point 2.10 of the reasons)

The invention

This European patent application concerns the distribution of rewards to participants in an affiliate marketing scheme. Affiliate marketing is an advertising model in which an influencer receives a reward for advertising a product or service, e.g. by including a link on a blog or endorsing a product on social media.

In the invention, the influencers are each allocated a portion of an advertisement banner displayed on a web site (Figures 5A and 5B). The areas are not visible to the visitor of the web site, but the visitor just sees an advertising banner. When the visitor clicks on the banner, the influencer whose portion was clicked on gets a reward. Over time, the rewards will be distributed according to the sizes of the image portions.

The idea was to allocate the partial areas such that the reward distribution rates match the degree of contribution of each user (influencer) to the advertising of the product or service.

Fig. 5B of EP 2 587 446
Fig. 5B of EP 2 587 446

Here is how the invention was defined in claim 1:

  • Claim 1 (main request)

Is it patentable?

The first-instance examining division had refused the patent application based on lack of inventive step, the main argument being that the distinguishing features constituted an obvious implementation of a set of non-technical requirements.

On appeal, it was common ground that claim 1 contains a mixture of technical and non-technical features. The board noted that the information providing device is clearly a technical device, whereas the distribution of rewards to influencers is a business idea.

First of all, the board therefore gave a nice summary of the EPO’s approach to mixed-type inventions:

The established approach for dealing with such mixed-type inventions is the “Comvik approach” (T 641/00 – Two identities/COMVIK). In this approach, only the features which contribute to the technical character of the invention may be taken into account in the assessment of inventive step. Non-technical features which do not make such a contribution are instead treated as being part of the technical problem to be solved, which is often formulated as a set of requirements to implement. Thus, as the appellant argued, a crucial step in this approach is to distinguish between the technical features and the non-technical features.

The appellant is correct in that there is no positive definition of ‘technical’ in the EPC.

However, Article 52(2) EPC provides a non-exhaustive list of subject-matter that should not be regarded as technical inventions, for example “schemes, rules and methods for performing mental acts, playing games or doing business, and programs for computers” (Article 52(2)(c) EPC).

Also, over the years, the case law has provided further guidance on the issue of technicality. In COMVIK, a technical feature was defined as a feature which contributed to the solution of a technical problem by providing a technical effect (reasons, point 6). Thus, features which are prima facie non-technical may interact with the technical subject matter of the claim so as to produce a technical effect (T 154/04 – Estimating sales activity/DUNS LICENSING ASSOCIATES, reasons points 13 and 15). The technical effect must be actually achieved by the feature in question, and it must not be a mere consequence of a modified business scheme (see T 258/03 – Auction method/HITACHI, which held that method steps consisting of modifications to a business scheme and aimed at circumventing a technical problem rather than solving it by technical means could not contribute to the technical character of the subject-matter claimed).

In the field of computer-implemented methods, the technical effect of the invention is often its implementation on technical means. In such cases, it is not always straightforward to determine which features contribute to the implementation, and which features are part of the non-technical requirements to be implemented. Generally speaking, features which are based on technical considerations of the technical system on which the requirements are implemented have technical character and thus may contribute to inventive step (T 792/92 – General purpose management system). However, pure software concepts do not contribute to the technical implementation, because programs for computers are excluded matter under Article 52(2) EPC (T 1755/10 – Software structure/TRILOGY, reasons point 6, and G 3/08 – Programs for computers, point 13.5).

In T 1463/11 (Universal merchant platform/CardinalCommerce), the Board introduced the concept of the notional business person to help separate business considerations and technical considerations. The business person, who is just as fictional as the skilled person in Article 56 EPC, may formulate business requirements but will not include any technical matter. This approach ensures that, in line with the Comvik approach, all the technical matter, including known or even notorious matter, can contribute to inventive step and is therefore considered for obviousness.

The appellant argued that the invention produced a technical effect which went beyond the mere implementation of a business method, namely reducing the processing load for calculating the reward rates. But the Board was not persuaded that this effect is actually achieved, for two reasons:

Firstly, the effect is not derivable based on a comparison between the claimed invention and the starting point in the prior art. In the problem and solution approach, the objective technical problem is formulated based on the difference between the claimed subject-matter and the prior art chosen as the starting point (the closest prior art). In the present case, the starting point is a server-side image map. The effect of reducing the computational load is based on a comparison between the claimed invention and another, hypothetical method of distributing rewards. Since the effect cannot be derived from the difference between the claimed invention and the server-side image map, it cannot form the basis of the technical problem. Thus, in the Board’s view, the technical problem vis-à-vis the server-side image map is merely the implementation of the reward calculation.

Secondly, even compared with a method of calculating rewards using division, the invention does not contain enough technical detail to credibly achieve the effect argued by the appellant. For there to be a reduction in processing load, the computational savings of avoiding division must outweigh the complexity introduced by processing image maps. Since the application does not contain any detailed embodiment of the server-side processing of coordinate information, it is not clear that there is a reduction in computation load, let alone a reduction over the whole scope claimed. This shows the importance of including an embodiment in support of the technical effects relied on, because this might enable them to be verified.

The technical problem was thus formulated as the implementation of the reward distribution. The remaining question was which features are part of the requirement specification and which features are part of the technical implementation:

The appellant argued that the specification of the business method ended with how to determine the reward distribution ratio. The features of dividing the advertisement display area into partial areas and allocating each partial area to a user such that when the partial area is clicked on the user gets a reward, were based on technical considerations of the web page system. It was not motivated by any business considerations.

The Board agrees with the appellant that the allocation of users to partial image areas is not within the domain of the business person. In order to come up with this idea, one needs to understand how a web site is built, and in particular how an image map works. Thus, this feature cannot be part of the non-technical requirements. Instead it is part of the solution that has to be evaluated for obviousness.

Starting from the HTML server-side image map and given the problem of implementing the business requirement of distributing rewards to a number of users according to certain reward distribution rates, the Board judges that it would not have been obvious to assign users to partial areas of an image as in claim 1. Although the means for implementing this was available in HTML, there was no motivation for the skilled person to do so.

Accordingly, claim 1 was found to involve an inventive step. The board thus remitted the case to the examining division with the order to grant a patent.

More information

You can read the whole decision here: T 2314/16 (Distributing rewards by assigning users to partial advertisement display areas/RAKUTEN) of 7.9.2020

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Determining ranges of identifiers for items packed in a container: non-technical

In this decision, the board of appeal once more uses the concept of the notional business person to draw the line between technical and non-technical features. Here are the practical takeaways from the decision T 0232/14 (Method and apparatus for identifying, authenticating, tracking and tracing manufactured items) of 6.10.2020 of Technical Board of Appeal 3.5.01:

Catchword

The Board judges that using ranges of unit identifiers to label a number of (consecutive) unit identifiers of manufactured items is, at the level of generality at which it is claimed, on the business side of the line between technical and non-technical subject-matter (see e.g. T 144/11 – Security rating System / SATO MICHIHIRO, points 2.1, and 3.6 to 3.9).(See point 2.5 of the reasons)

The ranges of unit identifiers do have a meaning for the business person. They correspond to batches of units produced on a production line. (See point 2.6 of the reasons)

Even if the “determining of ranges of unit identifiers” achieved a technical effect, such as reducing data storage and data bandwidth requirements, it is a matter of routine design for the skilled person, a software programmer or a database expert, based on common general knowledge to store the first and the last element of a list of items, instead of the whole list. (See point 2.9 of the reasons)

The invention

This European patent application concerns the identification of specially taxed or branded manufactured items (e.g. cigarette cartons) packaged into containers. Identification allows products to be authenticated as genuine, tracked and traced, which helps to detect contraband and counterfeit products. Conventional identification systems stored an individual record of the identifier for each item in the container together with its associated container identifier. According to the application, this requires a large amount of data storage.

The invention essentially replaces the individual records with ones representing any contiguous ranges of identifiers for items packed in a container. Since items are generally packed as they are produced, there are fewer ranges than items and thus fewer records in the database.

Fig. 1 of EP 2 272 038
Fig. 1 of EP 2 272 038

Here is how the invention was defined in claim 1:

  • Claim 1 (main request)

Is it patentable?

The first-instance examining division had refused the patent application based on lack of inventive step.

On appeal, there was common ground that claim 1 differed from the closest prior art by the last two features of claim 1:

  • “for each container, determining one or more ranges of unit identifiers of the two or more units allocated to the container”
  • “storing, in a database, a container identifier for each container, each container identifier being coupled, in the database, to the one or more ranges of unit identifiers of the two or more units allocated to the container”

One of the central questions was whether the determination of ranges of unit identifiers is technical or not. The examining division had taken the view that this feature was part of the requirement specification of an administrative scheme for the identification of manufactured items in containers.

The appellant, on the other hand, argued that ranges of unit identifiers did not have a meaning for the business person because they did not exist in the business area. They would be used in combination with production details and only for saving storage space, which was a technical contribution. This further enabled an authentication process to be implemented for products which were produced in very high numbers using standard data processing equipment. Hence, the requirement specification could only be formulated along the lines of “we need an identification and authentication system like we have for products that are shipped in containers, but which can be implemented practically and economically for very high volume units, such as cigarette packs”.

However, the board disagreed:

The Board however agrees with the examining division that this feature belongs to the business specification. The Board judges that using ranges of unit identifiers to label a number of (consecutive) unit identifiers of manufactured items is, at the level of generality at which it is claimed, on the business side of the line between technical and non-technical subject-matter (see e.g. T 144/11 – Security rating System / SATO MICHIHIRO, points 2.1, and 3.6 to 3.9).

The ranges of unit identifiers do have a meaning for the business person. They correspond to batches of units produced on a production line. This is apparent from Table 2 of the application, where a first batch is produced at 10:11 and a second batch at 10:12. In Example 1 on page 14 of the application, ranges of counter values correspond to cartons which were produced in the same time period. In Example 3 on page 15, the ranges correspond to cartons produced in batches of different production lines. In Example 2 on page 15, the ranges correspond to as many individual cartons as are packed together into one shipping case. The ranges of unit identifiers in all examples are not different from the general understanding of what a batch is in production, see, for example, D1, paragraph [0023]. Therefore the determination of ranges of unit identifiers is rather linked to the number of possible ways of organising items of a group of items based on how they are produced, that is, the number of batches, than to the way in which data can be stored.

The Board agrees with the examining division that the use of an (electronic) database for the storage of data, that is, the ranges of unit identifiers, was a straight-forward consequence of the requirement specification when implementing it on a data processing system, such as the one cited in the prior art. An (electronic) database was known in the prior art, for example, from WO 2006/038114, page 7, lines 5 to 11, and D1, paragraphs [0031] to [0032], where a checking center 30 receives and centralises product data, and has access to database 31, page 15, lines 13 to 15, and D1, paragraph [0065]. The person skilled in the art when implementing the business requirements would straight-forwardly store in the database a container identifier for each container, each being coupled, in the database, to the one or more ranges of unit identifiers allocated to the container. The saving in storage space is a mere “bonus effect”.

Therefore, the board concluded that claim 1 of the main request lacks an inventive step.

The board also noted that the case was no different even if the “determining of ranges of unit identifiers” achieved a technical effect, such as reducing data storage and data bandwidth requirements:

It is a matter of routine design for the skilled person, a software programmer or a database expert, based on common general knowledge to store the first and the last element of a list of items, instead of the whole list. If a list comprised non-consecutive numbers with numbers missing, then the skilled person would recognise without requiring inventive skills that several ranges can be defined to exclude the missing numbers. In an example of a list of items ranging from 1 to 50 with missing numbers 11, 12, 33, 34 and 35, the skilled person would store three ranges from 1 to 10, 13 to 32 and 36 to 50.

As a result, the board dismissed the appeal.

More information

You can read the whole decision here: T 0232/14 (Method and apparatus for identifying, authenticating, tracking and tracing manufactured items) of 6.10.2020

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Mapping a voice request to the user who issued the request: technical

This application concerns the field of man-machine interaction for users interacting with digital networks. Here are the practical takeaways from the decision T 0929/15 (Identifying a user issuing a voice request/ACCENTURE) of 17.11.2020 of Technical Board of Appeal 3.5.05:

Key takeaways

Reliably and conveniently mapping a voice request to the user who issued the request is a technical problem.

The invention

This European patent application concerns a computer network and a server for natural language-based control of a digital network. In particular, the invention has a view towards digital home networks comprising a plurality of devices such as a personal computer, a notebook, a CD player, a DVD player, a Blu-ray Disc™ playback device, a sound system, a television, a telephone, a mobile phone, an MP3 player, a washing machine, a dryer, a dish washer, lamps, and/or a microwave, etc.

According to the application, such increasingly complex digital networks lack a unified and efficient way to be managed and controlled by users. Furthermore, digital networks require a user to learn and to interact with a plurality of different, often heterogeneous, user interfaces in order to satisfactorily interact with the different devices associated in a digital network.

The invention therefore sets out to provide for improved man-machine interaction for users interacting with digital networks.

Fig. 2 of EP 2 498 250
Fig. 2 of EP 2 498 250

Here is how the invention was defined in claim 1:

  • Claim 1 (main request)

Is it patentable?

According to the board of appeal, claim 1 differed from the closest prior art in that the processing of a natural language-based voice request, besides producing a list of tags, also results in the identification of the user that provided the request. In particular, the user is identified by processing incoming voice samples of each request, extracting features therefrom and matching the extracted features against stored voice prints of users.

The board accepted that this features produces a technical effect as follows:

This distinguishing feature has the technical effect that each voice request is associated with the identity of the user who issued it, without the need for the user to explicitly input their identity.

The objective technical problem solved by this feature can thus be regarded as how to reliably and conveniently map a voice request to the user who issued the request.

The solution suggested in claim 1 was to biometrically identify the user who issued the voice request, based on features of the voice sample. The board concluded that this solution was not rendered obvious by the available prior art:

D4 suggests in several paragraphs, notably [0089] and [0092], that a group of users can each have a respective companion, or make use of a central companion running multiple processes for each user. However, it is silent on the complications that may arise in these scenarios, in particular how the companion(s) is/are to map a received voice request to a particular user. The appellant convincingly argued that even though D4 suggests, notably in paragraph [0094], that user authentication be required in order to access a companion – an authentication which might also take the form of an audio signature or a biometric signature – D4 consistently teaches (e.g. paragraph [0035]) that in such cases user identification is a precondition for accepting any request from the user. This teaches away from identifying the user while the received request is being processed.

Therefore, the claimed solution would not be obvious to the skilled person based on D4 alone. Nor would the skilled person be guided by the remaining documents on file to arrive at the solution in claim 1, since these documents are either entirely silent on providing a voice user interface or do not suggest user identification based on voice.

Therefore, the board remitted the case to the examining division with the order to grant a patent.

More information

You can read the whole decision here: T 0929/15 (Identifying a user issuing a voice request/ACCENTURE) of 17.11.2020

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Machine learning-based driver alertness detection: insufficiently disclosed

In this decision, the European Patent Office did not grant a patent on a machine learning-based driver alertness detection system. Here are the practical takeaways of the decision T 0509/18 of 3.3.2020 of Technical Board of Appeal 3.2.01:

Key takeaways

No mathematical methods and corresponding criteria allowing to handle said matrix and obtain a “look-up-table classification” are disclosed or even suggested in the description.

The invention

This European patent application generally relates to a monitoring system to monitor the alertness of a driver and issue a warning if it is determined that the driver is distracted for a sufficient period.

Fig. 1 of EP 2 688 764
Fig. 1 of EP 2 688 764

Here is how the invention is defined in claim 1:

  • Claim 1 (third auxiliary request)

Is it patentable?

The first-instance examining division had refused the patent application based on lack of novelty. After the applicant had filed a new main request and a series of auxiliary requests on appeal, the board of appeal still concurred with the examining division, and in addition took raised an objection under Art. 83 EPC (disclosure of the invention).

According to the board, the central feature of the claimed driver alertness detection system was that “the driver alertness detection system is configured to use a classification training process to register the driver’s head position and eye vector for the A-pillars, instrument panel, outside mirrors, rear view mirror, windshield, passenger floor, center console, radial and climate controls within the vehicle, and configured to save a corresponding matrix of inter-point metrics to be used for a look-up-table classification of the driver’s attention state, the inter-point metrics being geometric relationships between detected control points and comprising a set of vectors connecting any combination of control points including pupils, nostrils and corners of the mouth”.

But the board took the view that the application did not disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for it to be carried out by a person skilled in the art:

In the Board’s view the definition of claim 1 and the corresponding passages in the patent application (WO-A) do not teach the skilled person how a “look-up-table classification of the driver’s attention state” is to be obtained by the skilled person, based on said “matrix of inter-point metrics”, the inter-point metrics representing “geometric relationships between detected control points and comprising a set of vectors connecting any combination of control points including pupils, nostrils and corners of the mouth”.

In particular, WO-A does not teach how to derive from said “matrix of inter-point metrics” a “look-up-table classification of the driver’s attention state”, such a “look-up-table classification” permitting to decide on the driver’s attention state. A “matrix of inter-point metrics” being a mathematical object representing a set of “geometrical relationships between detected control points” according to WO-A (and to claim 1), a specific mathematical method and corresponding criteria (or algorithms) necessarily have to be determined in order to be able to handle said matrix and to deal with said matrix. No such mathematical methods and corresponding criteria allowing to handle said matrix and obtain a “look-up-table classification” are disclosed or even suggested in the description of WO-A. In addition, the actual specific form and construction of said “matrix of inter-point metrics” is likewise not specified in WO-A. Therefore the skilled person would not know how to construct a “look-up-table classification” and consequently how to decide on the driver’s attention state based on the video camera’s image of the actual position of driver’s head and eyes at a given instant.

In addition, claim 1 and WO-A likewise do not teach how a video camera’s image representing the instant position of a driver’s head and eyes (as seen e.g. in figures 8A, B or C) should be actually compared with a hypothetical “look-up-table classification” in order to assess the driver’s attention state. In effect, this step requires instructions and teaching concerning the kind of information to be extracted from a given video camera image and concerning the method and the criteria (similarly as above) to be applied in order to compare this information with the information included in the hypothetical “look-up-table classification”. No such disclosure is to be found in the description of the patent application (WO-A).

The same conclusions apply a fortiori to claim 1 of the main, first and second auxiliary request, since the subject-matter of each of these claims includes only part of the features of claim 1 of the third auxiliary request, thus including even less information than is included in claim 1 of the third auxiliary request.

The board hence concluded that the application did not disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for the skilled person to be able to carry out e.g. a “classification of the driver’s attention state”. The appeal was dismissed.

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Determining the value of a collateral using an index value calculated based on an appraised quality/quantity of water: non-technical

This is a further decision that confirms that business-related aspects of the claimed subject-matter cannot contribute to inventive step. Here are the practical takeaways from the decision T 0426/16 of 17.9.2020 of Technical Board of Appeal 3.4.03:

Key takeaways

Remember that the so-called “contribution approach”, taking into account prior art when determining whether subject-matter was excluded under Art. 52(2) and (3) EPC 1973, is abandoned (Case Law of the Boards of Appeal of the European patent office, I.A.1.4.1 a) and b)

It must be clear from the wording of the claim or the application that technical means must actually be used to carry out a method step.

The invention

The invention underlying the present decision relates to an investment instrument for water based on a stable free market price. A broker computes an index value of water 104 (1.07 $ per m3, for example), which allows to evaluate a defined portion of the body of the water. Then, the broker may sell a certificate for 1000 m3 of water for 1000 m3 x 1.07 $/m3 = 1070 $ (plus, for example, a 2% commission) to an investor. The relevant factors for computing the value index of the water are regularly updated. Furthermore, the state of a collateral is periodically appraised by a “professional appraiser” and the value of the collateral adjusted in order to make sure that each certificate is covered by valid assets.

Fig. 1 of WO 2009/024928 A2

Here is how the invention was defined in claim 1:

  • Claim 1 (main request)

Is it patentable?

At the end of the first instance prosecution stage, the examining division decided that the subject-matter of the independent claims of the main request (and of first to third auxiliary requests) lacked an inventive step in view of a notoriously-known computer network system. In more detail, most of the claimed features were ignored for the assessment of inventive step since they were considered non-technical:

4.1 The examining division decided that the subject-matter of the independent claims of the main request and of the first to third auxiliary requests, all filed on 10 August 2015, lacked an inventive step (Article 56 EPC) in view of a notoriously known computer network system. The technical features of the method claim 1 of the requests were no more than a notoriously known “computerized system”, see sections 12.3 and 12.4 of the contested decision. The step of “professionally appraising fresh water in regard to the quality and quantity”, the steps of determining and repetitively updating an index value (based on changes on the price of a product, the quantity of water utilized to produce the product and the quantity of water constituent in the product) and the step of determining a value of the collateral using the computed index value and the appraised quality/quantity of the collateral were considered as related to “a business concept on an abstract level”, see sections 12.2.

Against this decision, the applicant filed an appeal and argued that a water quality appraisal instrument is a technical means (hereinafter first argument). In addition, the applicant argued that, according to some decisions of various Boards of Appeal, in order to be patentable, it is sufficient that the claimed subject-matter is based on technical considerations (hereinafter second argument):

(d) According to the appellant, the claims recited a non-abstract technical solution with a technical character and, hence, provided a technical solution to a technical problem. In view of the “professional water quality appraisal instruments” in the independent claims, the skilled person was “an expert in the field of technical evaluation of substances in the water by technical instruments”, which “could not be interpreted as an abstract mental or pure business act that can even be performed by a human being”. Features (b) and (b’) therefore were technical features. As examples of an “professional water quality appraisal”, the appellant mentioned the measure of the amount of one or more substances in water e. g. to determine its salinity or its pH, the term “water quality” being a known “technical characteristic”. The appellant cited a number of web pages related to the testing of water quality.

(e) The appellant argued that the “water quality appraisal instruments” were “integrated together with the inventive combination of elements” according to features (h) and (n) or (h’) and (n’), because for determining the “value of a defined portion of the amount of water” the first (or second) index and the appraised water quality (category) were taken into consideration.

(g) The appellant mentioned decisions T 931/95 and T 769/92, where the Board of Appeal held “allowable a method claim based merely on an implied need for technical considerations”. The Board in case T 769/92 found that the invention had technical character because it implied a need for technical considerations when carrying out that invention.

However, the board in charge did neither follow the first nor the second argument. With respect to the first argument, the board argued:

No indication can be found in the application as originally filed for “professional water quality appraisal instruments” according to features (b) and (b’). “Professional water quality appraisal instruments” are neither explicitly mentioned on page 6 nor can they be derived therefrom. Page 8, lines 9 to 10, lines 17 to 22 and figure 2, box 236 merely mention that a “professional appraiser appraises (box 236) the collateral for the quantity, the quality and availability of the water”. From this passage, a skilled person reading the application as originally filed cannot directly and unambiguously derive that “professional water quality appraisal instruments” are involved or what kind of analysis (salinity, pH or other) is performed. The Board understands from page 8, lines 17 to 24 that step 236 in figure 2 concerns an evaluation by a professional of the state of the collateral 101, e. g. a lake. However, no indication can be found in the application that this evaluation requires any “professional water quality appraisal instruments”.

[…]

Hence, the application as originally filed does not disclose “water quality appraisal instruments” as such or does not suggest that the professional appraisal mentioned on page 8, lines 17 to 22 is necessarily performed by using technical means.

On the second argument, the board in charge commented as follows:

4.6 Regarding the appellant’s comments on T 769/92, see section VII., point (g), the Board notes that this decision concerned the question whether the claimed subject-matter was covered by the exclusion provisions of Article 52(2) and (3) EPC and still followed the now abandoned “contribution approach”, see e. g. Case Law of the Boards of Appeal of the European patent office, I.A.1.4.1 a) and b). A discussion of the contribution approach and the departure from it can be found e. g. in G 3/08, points 10.6 and 10.7 of the Reasons for the Opinion. In the present case, the examining division did not question that the subject-matter of the claims was not falling within the exclusions of of Article 52(2) and (3) EPC. Furthermore, the Board in T 769/92 found that technical considerations were necessary before programming of the computer-implemented method could begin. In the present case, no technical considerations are to be made, as each consideration appears to be made by a broker, and not a computer engineer.

4.7 Hence, in view of sections 4.3 to 4.6 above and of the example of figures 1 to 3, the Board is of the view that the only technical features disclosed in the application as a whole and present in the above subject-matter are a notoriously-known computer with a processor, a memory and a display. As a side remark, the Board notes that a basis for a method involving or a system having plural computers, plural processors or plural display devices is not disclosed in the application as originally filed, figure 1 only showing one desktop computer with a processor, a memory and a display device.

Therefore, the board concluded that claim 1 of the main request did not involve an inventive step. Furthermore, since the same arguments would also apply to the subject-matter of all filed auxliary requests, the appeal was dismissed.

More information

You can read the whole decision here: T 0426/16 of 17.9.2020

Functional implementation of a lottery game: non-technical

This decision is a good reminder that the technical implementation of an otherwise non-technical method has to be rather specific to be patentable. The more high-level and functional the implementation is claimed, the lower the chances of success at the EPO. 

Here are the practical takeaways from the decision T 0886/14 (Lottery game/Al-Ziyoud, Aiman H.) of 16.11.2020 of Technical Board of Appeal 3.5.01:

Key takeaways

The technical implementation is only claimed in functional terms and there are no details of how it is actually achieved. Hence, at the level of detail of claim 1, the advanced effects of reducing latency and redundancy are not further technical effects which could give rise to an objective technical problem.

The invention

This European patent application concerns a system for playing a lottery game with a progressive accumulative jackpot. The jackpot grows with each lottery ticket because a portion of the purchase price goes into the jackpot.

The lottery system described in the application comprises a central lottery system connected to a number of remote communication devices via a public telecommunications network:

Fig. 1C of EP 1 623 375
Fig. 1C of EP 1 623 375

The players use their communication devices to request lottery tickets from the central lottery system. The central lottery system comprises an input terminal, e.g. a web server, for receiving the request from the remote communication device, a central server, and a database for storing the jackpot size.

Having received the ticket request, the central lottery system assigns the requested number of lottery tickets to the player and bills him. Next, the system updates the jackpot size in the database by adding to the jackpot (a portion of) the price of the purchased tickets. The updated jackpot amount is then provided to the central server, which transmits it to a presentation device for display.

Here is how the invention was defined in claim 1:

  • Claim 1 (main request)

Is it patentable?

The first-instance examining division had refused the application for lack of inventive step. The argument was that claim 1 then on file addressed the problem of defining rules for playing a game, automation of administrative methods, and presenting information, whereas the implementation of these aspects included only the use of conventional computing components.

The board of appeal agreed with the examining division that a conventional client/server system was an appropriate starting point for assessing inventive step in this case. Claim 1 was found to differ from a conventional client/server system in that

  • the server receives, from the remote client, one or more lottery purchase orders,
  • stores the accumulated jackpot amount (“latest lottery prize amount” in claim 1),
  • updates the jackpot amount automatically based at least partially on the received lottery purchase price, and
  • provides the updated jackpot value to a presentation device automatically when the jackpot value has been updated.

According to the appellant, the claim defined an asymmetric information path between a user and the server. The user inputting the lottery purchase order to the server did not receive the latest jackpot amount; the jackpot amount was instead broadcast to prospective users via television, radio, or a website. This was a difference over the conventional client/server system where data exchanged between a client and a server always followed a symmetrical path. But the board did not follow this argument:

In the Board’s view, however, the claim does not exclude that the remote communication device and the presentation device is one and the same device. Indeed, according to the application (see page 12, lines 21 to 22 and lines 25 to 26), the presentation device can be a computer device providing displaying capabilities.

In any case, the presentation is not limited to television, radio, or a website. Furthermore, the claim wording covers not only broadcast but also unicast and multicast. Therefore, the Board does not agree that the alleged asymmetry is present in claim 1.

Irrespective of this finding, the board also noted that the requirement that the jackpot value be provided to all players, including prospective players, is a non-technical one:

Like the examining division, the Board takes the view that the claimed subject-matter aims at implementing a method for playing a lottery game, which, when taken as such, would be excluded from patentability pursuant to Article 52(2)(c) and (3) EPC.

The non-technical method of playing a lottery game comprises:

– One or more players request and purchase one or more lottery tickets.

– The lottery is organised by a lottery organiser.

– The lottery scheme includes adding a portion of the purchase price to an accumulative jackpot.

– Each time the jackpot value is increased, it is immediately notified to the requesting lottery player or all lottery players.

Under the COMVIK approach (see decision T 641/00) the non-technical features cannot contribute to inventive step.

The appellant argued that the invention produced a number of technical effects. For example, the server transmitted only the updated jackpot value which avoided a wasteful and redundant transmission of values that have already been transmitted. Furthermore, the server provided the updated jackpot value in real-time and not following some delay. As a result, the technical effect of reducing latency in data transmission was provided. But also these arguments did not succeed:

The Board considers, however, that the effects advanced by the appellant are not (further) technical effects counting towards inventive step. The non-technical method includes that a jackpot value should be provided without delay when it is updated. It follows that the effects advanced by the appellant result from the lottery method per se rather than from its technical implementation. The technical implementation is only claimed in functional terms and there are no details of how it is actually achieved. Hence, at the level of detail of claim 1, the advanced effects of reducing latency and redundancy are not further technical effects which could give rise to an objective technical problem. Furthermore, any asymmetric information exchange would also be a direct result of the non-technical requirement that the jackpot value should be provided to all players.

The Board notes that this finding is in line with the established case law represented i.a. by decision T 258/03 (see points 5.6 to 5.7 of the reasons) and decision T 172/03 (see point 22 of the reasons).

In the appellant’s opinion, the objective technical problem was how to provide a platform for the implementation of a lottery capable of providing both participants and prospective participants real-time data about the jackpot total. The Board considered, however, that this problem was not correct …

… as, contrary to the COMVIK-principle, it does not comprise all parts of the above non-technical method for playing a lottery game. In line with the COMVIK-principle, this method cannot contribute to inventive step and is instead provided in its entirety to the technically skilled person as part of the framework of the objective technical problem. Hence, in the Board’s judgement, the skilled person faces the objective technical problem of implementing the lottery method on the conventional client/server system.

Furthermore, the Board considered that the claimed implementation would have been obvious to the skilled person facing the above problem:

In particular, it would have been obvious to implement the lottery game functionality including maintaining and updating a jackpot at the central server. Indeed, it is already given as part of the game rules that the lottery is organised centrally. It would also have been obvious to implement functionality for requesting tickets at client computers connected to the server; this could be done for example using web page forms provided from the server to the remote devices. Finally, providing the jackpot value to all participating players could be straightforwardly accomplished for example by sending automatically generated emails to all players’ client computers and by displaying their content.

The appellant also argued that it would not have been obvious at the priority date to present the exact value of the updated jackpot, because lottery systems known at that time rather presented an estimated jackpot amount. But also this argument was not successful:

However, the question whether the skilled person would consider notifying the exact value of the updated jackpot to players in real-time does not arise here, because that has already been decided in formulating the objective technical problem. Therefore, the skilled person would seek to provide such functionality because the problem requires him to do so regardless of whether lottery schemes adopted this solution at the priority date or not. The only question is how it would be done, but, as outlined above, the Board considers the claimed implementation to be obvious.

Therefore, the board concluded that claim 1 did not involve an inventive step, and dismissed the appeal.

More information

You can read the whole decision here: T 0886/14 (Lottery game/Al-Ziyoud, Aiman H.) of 16.11.2020

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