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Art. 54 - Novelty

T 172/03 - Order management/RICOH

in
Date of the Decision: 
2003-11-27
Catchword: 
  1. The term “state of the art” in Article 54 EPC should, in compliance with the French and German text, be understood as “state of technology”, which in the context of the EPC does not include the state of the art in commerce and business methods. The term “everything” in Article 54(2) EPC is to be understood as concerning such kind of information which is relevant to some field of technology.
  2. From these considerations it follows that anything which is not related to any technological field or field from which, because of its informational character, a skilled person would expect to derive any technically relevant information, does not belong to the state of the art to be considered in the context of Articles 54 and 56, even if it had been made available to the general public before the relevant priority date (see points 8 to 10 of the reasons).

T 154/04 - Estimating sales activity/DUNS LICENSING ASSOCIATES

in
Date of the Decision: 
2006-11-15
Headnote: 
Methods of business research are excluded “as such” from patentability under Article 52(2)© and (3) EPC. Gathering and evaluating data as part of a business research method do not convey technical character to the business research method if such steps do not contribute to the technical solution of a technical problem.

T 424/03 - Clipboard formats I/MICROSOFT

in
Date of the Decision: 
2006-02-23
Headnote: 
The claim category of a computer-implemented method is distinguished from that of a computer program. Even though a method, in particular a method of operating a computer, may be put into practice with the help of a computer program, a claim relating to such a method does not claim a computer program in the category of a computer program (point 5.1 of the reasons). A computer-readable medium is a technical product and, thus, has technical character (point 5.3 of the reasons).

T 258/03 - Auction method/HITACHI

in
Date of the Decision: 
2004-04-21
Headnote: 
A method involving technical means is an invention within the meaning of Article 52(1) EPC (as distinguished from decision T 931/95-Controlling pension benefits system/PBS PARTNERSHIP) (see points 4.1 to 4.4 of the reasons). Method steps consisting of modifications to a business scheme and aimed at circumventing a technical problem rather than solving it by technical means cannot contribute to the technical character of the subject-matter claimed (see point 5.7 of the reasons).

T 1351/04 - File search method/FUJITSU

in
Date of the Decision: 
2007-04-18
Headnote: 
An index file containing management information to be used for searching a file is a technical means since it determines the way the computer searches information, which is a technical task. A computer-executable method of creating such an index file can therefore be regarded as a method of manufacturing a technical means, also having technical character.
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