Patent decision

BL number

O/200/05

Concerning rights in

GB 0301159.0

Hearing Officer

Mr A Bartlett

Decision date

15 July 2005

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Mayer, Yaron

Provisions discussed

Sections 1(1)(b), 1(2)(c) and 14

Keywords

Clarity, Excluded fields (refused), Inventive step, Plurality of invention

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The application concerns a method for searching, finding and contacting dates utilizing an internet based system. Compatible users can contact each other without having to disclose their telephone numbers such as, for example, by providing instant messaging or a link or code which allows routing of a phone call to a potential date whilst keeping the phone number secret.

The hearing officer found that the claims did not meet the requirements of Section 14(5)(b) and (d) in that they were not clear and did not relate to a single inventive concept.

On excluded matter, he found the activity of providing an online dating service to fall within the business method exclusion and, as implemented in software, the computer program exclusion. Furthermore, he was unable to identify any technical contribution which could make the invention patentable. What the inventor had done was to identify a new business model for a dating service but there was no technical contribution in providing it. He therefore found the invention to be excluded under section 1(2)(c).

He deferred the assessment of inventive step in view of the highly complex nature of the claims and his finding that the claims did not relate to an invention for the purposes of the Act.