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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office Decisions >> Bank of America Corporation (Patent) [2012] UKIntelP o36712 (28 September 2012)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKIntelP/2012/o36712.html
Cite as: [2012] UKIntelP o36712
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Bank of America Corporation (Patent) [2012] UKIntelP o36712 (28 September 2012)
Patent decision
- BL number
- O/367/12
- Concerning rights in
- GB 0911029.7
- Hearing Officer
- Mrs S E Chalmers
- Decision date
- 28 September 2012
- Person(s) or Company(s) involved
- Bank of America Corporation
- Provisions discussed
- PA 1977, Section 1(2)(c)
- Keywords
- Excluded fields (refused)
- Related Decisions
- None
Summary
The application is concerned with a communications network to enable consumers to share purchasing decision information with each other within a mobile phone environment. For example, one consumer may post information on a special offer or about specific goods and services on a central database which can then be shared with other members of the network. By using the geographical context of a mobile phone logged on to the network, the database can send relevant information relating to the actual physical location of that mobile phone.
The Hearing Officer applied the four part test set out in the Aerotel/Macrossan judgment, found the invention to be excluded as a computer program and as a method for doing business as such, and refused the application. She did not consider the invention provided a technical contribution of the type found in Symbian or Halliburton.