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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office Decisions >> Milliken Company (Patent) [2012] UKIntelP o49812 (14 December 2012)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKIntelP/2012/o49812.html
Cite as: [2012] UKIntelP o49812
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Milliken Company (Patent) [2012] UKIntelP o49812 (14 December 2012)
Patent decision
- BL number
- O/498/12
- Concerning rights in
- GB0914378.5
- Hearing Officer
- Miss J Pullen
- Decision date
- 14 December 2012
- Person(s) or Company(s) involved
- Milliken & Company
- Provisions discussed
- PA 1977 Section 1(2)
- Keywords
- Excluded fields (refused)
- Related Decisions
- None
Summary
The application relates to an automated system for generating large numbers of digitally defined patterns suitable for printing on textiles, in particular carpet tiles. The pattern is a composite formed from at least two digitally superimposed layers, the first is a base pattern, the second and any subsequent layers are overlay patterns. A related series of patterns are generated such that, in use, no two carpet tiles in a series have exactly the same composite pattern but have a common pattern which serves to unify the overall appearance when the carpet tiles are installed.
The Hearing Officer considered the four-step test in Aerotel/Macrossan in the light of the Symbian judgment, and found the contribution lay in a computer based process for generating a composite pattern comprised of a base pattern and at least one overlay by randomly selecting overlay patterns from a library of overlay patterns until each overlay pattern has been chosen. The Hearing Officer could find no technical contribution and so refused the application under Section 18(3).