Patent decision

BL number

O/0115/23

Hearing Officer

Miss J Pullen

Decision date

3 February 2023

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

Google LLC

Provisions discussed

Section 1(2)

Keywords

Excluded fields (refused)

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The invention relates to a method, system and computer program for generating and providing user visit analytics data for a store owner while maintaining privacy for customers of the store. User devices, such as smartphones, receive signals from store devices which are installed in a physical storefront of a store when the user visits the store. The signals include store identifiers which are logged and aggregated by the user devices. When a threshold number of store identifiers has been reached, the user device transmits aggregated store visit data to an analytics server. The user device takes processing steps to maintain user privacy, such as generalising time data related to visits and removing any user device identifier from the data or using a random device identifier.

The hearing officer assessed the invention using theAerotelapproach and, using the guidance ofMerrill Lynch, found the invention to be excluded as a scheme, rule or method for doing business, as such. Any improvements to data security relied upon by the applicant were found to be related only to the business method provided by the present invention. The invention was also found to be excluded as a program for a computer. The application was refused under section 18(3).

Full decisionO/0115/23  344Kb