9.1.6 Assesment of features relating to a presentation of information
Overview
9.1.6 Assesment of features relating to a presentation of information
|
You are viewing the 9th edition (2019) of this publication; for the 10th edition (2022) see here |
When deciding if a feature relating to the presentation of information is technical or not, what has to be considered is whether or not it contributes to solving a technical problem. The fact that mental activities are involved does not on its own render the subject-matter non-technical (T 643/00, T 336/14). However, a feature that solely addresses a user's subjective preferences does not solve a technical problem (T 1567/05).
For further information on the technical character of features relating to the presentation of information and display of data, see chapter I.A.2.3. "Aesthetic creations" and I.A.2.6. "Presentation of information".
- T 1472/14
Was der beanspruchte Gegenstand leistet ist lediglich, anthropometrische Daten in einer Datenbank so zu organisieren, dass diese in standardisierter Form oder in Form statistischer Kennwerte zur Abfrage über eine Kommunikationseinrichtung bereitgestellt werden. Der Anspruchsgegenstand betrifft nur Auswertungsergebnisse, auch wenn solche im Rahmen einer Zweckangabe zur Produktherstellung gesendet werden. Es erfolgt keine Kontrolle des Betriebs einer Herstellungsanlage, sondern es werden lediglich Produktdaten bereit gestellt. Die Kammer bezweifelt, dass das Ziel der Anthropotechnik mit einer Gestaltung der Schnittstelle zwischen Mensch und Maschine hier relevant ist. Die Kammer erkennt in dem beanspruchten Verfahren keinen technischen Effekt, der über die reine naheliegende Automatisierung einer abstrakten Idee zur Standardisierung hinausgeht (vgl. Entscheidungsgründe, Punkt 7).
- T 2049/12
See point 5.8.
- Case law 2019
-
In T 489/14 (OJ EPO 2019, A86) the invention related to a computer-implemented method, computer program and apparatus for simulating the movement of a pedestrian crowd through an environment. The modelling of pedestrian movement could be used to help design or modify a venue. The applicant argued that the claimed steps provided a technical effect beyond the implementation of the method on the computer. It invoked decision T 1227/05 (OJ EPO 2007, 574) and argued that modelling pedestrian crowd movement in an environment constituted an adequately defined technical purpose for a computer-implemented method. However, the board held that a technical effect requires, at a minimum, a direct link with physical reality, such as a change in or a measurement of a physical entity. The board could not detect such a direct link in the process of calculating the trajectories of hypothetical pedestrians as they move through a modelled environment, as was claimed here. As to T 1227/05, the board saw an evident analogy with a method of testing – by simulation – a modelled circuit with respect to noise influences. Just as the simulation method claimed in T 1227/05 could be used to predict the performance of a designed circuit in the presence of noise before it is built, so too could the simulation method claimed here be used to predict the performance of a designed environment in the presence of pedestrians before it is constructed. However, the board was not fully convinced by the reasoning in T 1227/05. Since the board intended to deviate from decision T 1227/05 and since the case at hand required a decision to be taken on the patentability of simulation methods it decided to refer the following questions to the Enlarged Board of Appeal for decision: 1. In the assessment of inventive step, can the computer-implemented simulation of a technical system or process solve a technical problem by producing a technical effect which goes beyond the simulation's implementation on a computer, if the computer-implemented simulation is claimed as such? 2. If the answer to the first question is yes, what are the relevant criteria for assessing whether a computer-implemented simulation claimed as such solves a technical problem? In particular, is it a sufficient condition that the simulation is based, at least in part, on technical principles underlying the simulated system or process? 3. What are the answers to the first and second questions if the computer-implemented simulation is claimed as part of a design process, in particular for verifying a design? The referral is pending as G 1/19.