The invention relates to systems and methods for improved database queries where records may be incomplete and/or confidential and/or duplicated, to combine records in a way such that when a search query is executed multiple possible matches are returned. Each match is assigned a confidence score, and a test of the ratio between a highly ranked result and the next result, or sum of the other results in formed, and if the confidence score exceeds a threshold the result is output. The output identifies the records in a ‘foreign’ database which should be retrieved.
The Hearing Officer considered the four-step test in Aerotel/Macrossan in the light of the Symbian judgment, and found the contribution to relate to methods and systems for making database queries with returned values having a high confidence level. The Hearing Officer found the contribution to relate to a computer program as such and could find no technical contribution and so refused the applications under Section 18(3).