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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office Decisions >> IGT (Patent) [2007] UKIntelP o19807 (16 July 2007)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKIntelP/2007/o19807.html
Cite as: [2007] UKIntelP o19807
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IGT [2007] UKIntelP o19807 (16 July 2007)
For the whole decision click here: o19807
Patent decision
- BL number
- O/198/07
- Concerning rights in
- GB 0417719.2
- Hearing Officer
- Mr P Marchant
- Decision date
- 16 July 2007
- Person(s) or Company(s) involved
- IGT
- Provisions discussed
- PA Act 1977 Section 1(2)
- Keywords
- Excluded fields (refused)
- Related Decisions
- None
Summary
The application is concerned with games such as poker in which a combination of cards makes up a winning hand, or slot machine symbols making a winning row. In the card variant, certain cards have associated with them other, different, cards; for example the seven of hearts could be associated with the ace of diamonds. When playing the game, if the player found the seven of hearts in his hand, and was able to remember that its associated card was the ace of diamonds, he would have the option of substituting one for the other to give himself a better hand. Similarly with slot machine symbols. The hearing officer applied the four part test set out in the Aerotel and Macrossan judgment, found the invention to be excluded as a method of playing a game, and refused the application.