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United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office Decisions
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GE Medical Technology Services Inc (Patent) [2008] UKIntelP o19808 (14 July 2008)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKIntelP/2008/o19808.html
Cite as:
[2008] UKIntelP o19808
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GE Medical Technology Services Inc [2008] UKIntelP o19808 (14 July 2008)
For the whole decision click here: o19808
Patent decision
- BL number
- O/198/08
- Concerning rights in
- GB 0425836.4
- Hearing Officer
- Mrs S E Chalmers
- Decision date
- 14 July 2008
- Person(s) or Company(s) involved
- GE Medical Technology Services Inc
- Provisions discussed
- PA 1977Section 1(2)
- Keywords
- Excluded fields (refused)
- Related Decisions
- None
Summary
The invention concerns the identification of potential solutions to a problem associated with medical devices such as medical imaging systems. The complexity of these devices makes identifying and correcting problems difficult and time-consuming and the solution proposed by the applicant is to automate the fault-finding process. It does this by sending data, for example operating parameters, from the medical device to a server which searches a database containing historic data for the device. The server then uses the data from the medical device and the historic data to search a database of solutions to problems associated with the medical device and finally transmits potential solution(s) to a user. The user can then download the solution in the form of a program to the medical device. The hearing officer applied the Aerotel test, found the invention to be excluded as a computer program and a method for doing business and refused the application.