Patent decision

BL number

O/049/11

Concerning rights in

GB 0724938.6

Hearing Officer

Dr J E Porter

Decision date

16 February 2011

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Claria Corporation

Provisions discussed

Patents Act 1977 section 1(2)

Keywords

Excluded fields (refused)

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The invention concerns use of a media server to control and adapt media content supplied to a user. The server receives media content from a website and a cable television broadcast source, and distributes it to a user via one or more media outlets. The content is categorised and also the user’s navigation behaviour is monitored. The categorisation and user navigation information is used to create and update a user profile, and commercial information based upon the user profile is provided.

The hearing officer followed the steps set out in Aerotel in order to determine whether the invention was excluded from patentability. Having considered the various features of the claimed invention and their interaction, he concluded that the alleged contribution made by the invention lay not in the media server or the receiving of media content, but in the categorisation of that content, monitoring of user navigation information, and the use of the categorisation and navigation information to generate and update user profiles - based upon which commercial information was provided. He found that this contribution fell solely within excluded matter, as it was no more than a mental act and a program for a computer and, to the extent that it relating to the provision of commercial information, a method for doing business.