3.7 Presentations of information 

The term "presentations of information" in Art. 52(2)(d) is to be understood as referring to the conveying of information to a user. It concerns both the cognitive content of the information presented and the way it is presented (T 1143/06, T 1741/08). It is not limited to visual information, but also covers information presented in other forms, e.g. audio or haptic information. However, it does not include the technical means used to generate the presentation of information.

Conveying information to a user also has to be distinguished from technical representations of information directed to a technical system which will process, store or transmit that information. Features of data encoding schemes, data structures and electronic communication protocols which represent functional data as opposed to cognitive data are not regarded as presentations of information within the meaning of Art. 52(2)(d) (T 1194/97).

When assessing whether it is excluded from patentability under Art. 52(2) and Art. 52(3), the claimed subject-matter has to be considered as a whole (G‑II, 2). In particular, a claim directed to or specifying the use of any technical means for presenting information (e.g. a computer display) has, as a whole, technical character and so is not excluded from patentability. As another example, a claim directed to a kit comprising a product (e.g. a bleaching composition) and other features that have no technical effect on the product, such as instructions for using the product or reference information for evaluating the results obtained, is not excluded, since the claim has a technical feature: a product comprising a composition of matter.

Once it is established that the claimed subject-matter as a whole is not excluded from patentability under Art. 52(2) and Art. 52 (3), it is examined for compliance with the other patentability requirements, in particular novelty and inventive step (G‑I, 1).

In the assessment of inventive step, features related to the presentation of information are analysed to determine whether, in the context of the invention, they contribute to producing a technical effect serving a technical purpose. If not, they make no technical contribution and cannot support a finding of inventive step (G‑VII, 5.4). To determine whether a technical effect is produced, the examiner assesses the context of the invention, the task the user carries out and the actual purpose served by the particular presentation of information.

A feature defining a presentation of information produces a technical effect if it credibly assists the user in performing a technical task by means of a continued and/or guided process of human-machine interaction (T 336/14 and T 1802/13). Such a technical effect is considered credibly achieved if the assistance the user receives when performing the technical task is objectively, reliably and causally linked to the feature. This would not be the case if the alleged effect depends on the user's subjective interests or preferences. For example, some users find it easier to understand data when it is displayed as numerical values, whereas others prefer a colour-coded display. Choosing between these two ways of displaying the data is therefore not considered to have a technical effect (T 1567/05). Similarly, whether or not it is easier to understand audio information conveyed as a musical scale instead of in spoken words depends solely on the user's cognitive abilities. As another example, allowing the user to set parameters determining what information is presented or to choose the way it is presented does not make a technical contribution if it merely accommodates the user's subjective preferences.

Determining the extent to which a particular presentation of information may be considered to credibly support the user in performing a technical task can be difficult. It can be simplified during the assessment of inventive step by comparing the invention with the prior art and so limiting the analysis to the distinguishing features (G‑VII, 5.4, paragraph 5). This comparison may reveal that the potential support for the performance of the technical task is already achieved in the prior art, which means that the distinguishing features make no technical contribution (e.g. relate only to non-technical subjective user preferences).

A feature relating to the presentation of information commonly defines:

(i)the cognitive content of the information presented, i.e. "what" is presented, or 

(ii)the way in which the information is presented, i.e. "how" it is presented. 

These two categories will be used to allow for a more detailed discussion of technical effects in the rest of this section. However, they are not meant to be exhaustive, and there are also cases in which a feature falls into both. For example, a step of "displaying the surname of a customer in capital letters" in a claimed method defines both the cognitive content of the presented information (surname of a customer) and the way it is presented (in capital letters). Such a feature may be considered to consist in fact of two features: the displayed text is the surname of a customer (falling into the first category) and the displayed text is shown in capital letters (falling into the second category). The manner of presentation itself might additionally convey cognitive information. For example, there may be a convention that capitals indicate which part of a name is the surname.

(1) What (which information) is presented? 

If the cognitive content of the information presented to the user relates to an internal state prevailing in a technical system and enables the user to properly operate this technical system, it has a technical effect. An internal state prevailing in a technical system is an operating mode, a technical condition or an event which is related to the internal functioning of the system, may dynamically change and is automatically detected. Its presentation typically prompts the user to interact with the system, for example to avoid technical malfunctions (T 528/07).

Static or predetermined information about technical properties or potential states of a machine, specifications of a device or operating instructions do not qualify as an internal state prevailing in the device. If the presentation of static or predetermined information merely has the effect of helping the user with the non-technical tasks preceding the technical task, it does not make a technical contribution. For example, the effect that the user does not have to know or memorise a sequence of buttons to be operated prior to configuring a device is not a technical effect.

Non-technical information such as the state of a casino game, a business process or an abstract simulation model is exclusively aimed at the user for subjective evaluation or non-technical decision-making. It is not directly linked to a technical task and therefore does not qualify as an internal state prevailing in a technical system.

(2) How is the information presented? 

A feature in this category typically specifies the form or arrangement in which information is conveyed to the user (e.g. on a screen) or the timing of its conveyance. An example is a diagram designed solely for conveying information. Specific technical features related to, for example, the way audio signals or images are generated are not regarded as a way in which information is presented.

Features defining a visualisation of information in a particular diagram or layout are normally not considered to make a technical contribution, even if the diagram or layout arguably conveys information in a way which a viewer may intuitively regard as particularly appealing, lucid or logical.

For instance, dealing with limited available screen space is part of designing presentations of information for human viewing and therefore not an indication of technicality per se. The general idea of giving an overview of several images in a limited display area by displaying a single image and sequentially replacing it with other images is not based on technical considerations, but is a matter of layout design. Similarly, arranging objects within available screen space by eliminating "white space" between window panes follows the same layout principles as would apply to the layout of a magazine cover and does not involve technical considerations.

On the other hand, if the way the information is presented credibly assists the user in performing a technical task by means of a continued and/or guided process of human-machine interaction, it produces a technical effect (T 1143/06, T 1741/08, T 1802/13). For example, displaying several images side by side in low resolution and allowing selection and display of an image at higher resolution conveys information to the user in the form of a technical tool that enables the user to perform the technical task of interactively searching and retrieving stored images more efficiently. Storing digital images at different resolutions gives rise to the technical effect of allowing the simultaneous overview display of several images (T 643/00). As another example, in a video soccer game, the particular manner of conveying to the user where the nearest teammate is located by dynamically displaying a guide mark on the edge of the screen when the teammate is off-screen produces the technical effect of facilitating a continued human-machine interaction by resolving conflicting technical requirements: displaying an enlarged portion of an image and maintaining an overview of a zone of interest which is larger than the display area (T 928/03). As a further example, in the context of a visual aid for a surgeon, if, in the course of surgery, the current orientation of a medical ball joint implant is displayed in a way which credibly helps the surgeon to correct the position of the implant more precisely, this is considered to provide a technical effect.

Effects relying on human physiology

When a way of presenting information produces an effect in the user's mind that does not depend on psychological or other subjective factors but on physical parameters which are based on human physiology and can be precisely defined, that effect may qualify as a technical effect. The way of presenting the information then makes a technical contribution to the extent that it contributes to this technical effect. For example, displaying a notification on one of several computer screens near the user's current visual focus of attention has the technical effect that it is more or less guaranteed to be seen immediately (compared e.g. with an arbitrary placement on one of the screens). In contrast, the decision to show only urgent notifications (rather than e.g. all notifications) is based only on psychological factors and thus makes no technical contribution. Minimising information overload and distraction is not considered to qualify per se as a technical effect (T 862/10). As another example, displaying a stream of images in which the parameters for delay and change in the content between successive images are computed on the basis of physical properties of human visual perception in order to achieve a smooth transition is considered to make a technical contribution (T 509/07).

If information (e.g. a visual or audio stimulus) is presented to a person in order to produce in that person a physiological reaction (e.g. involuntary eye gaze) which can be measured for the purpose of assessing a medical condition (e.g. eyesight, hearing impairment or brain damage), that presentation of information may be considered to produce a technical effect.

Effects relying on mental activities of the user

Where the claimed subject-matter comprises a feature of presenting information to a user, be it of category (i) or (ii), an evaluation by the user is involved. Although such an evaluation per se is a mental act (Art. 52(2)(c)), the mere fact that mental activities are involved does not necessarily make subject-matter non-technical. For example, in a situation such as the one at issue in T 643/00 (see above), the user makes an evaluation based on an overview of low-resolution images in order to locate and objectively recognise a desired image. This mental evaluation may be considered to be an intermediate step steering the image search and retrieval process and so forms an integral part of a solution to a technical problem. This solution does not rely on facilitating the human tasks of understanding, learning, reading or memorising or on influencing the user's decision as to which image is to be searched. It provides a mechanism for inputting a selection which would not be possible if the images were not displayed in that specific arrangement.

On the other hand, if the choice or layout of information presented is aimed exclusively at the human mind, in particular to help the user to take a non-technical decision (e.g. which product to buy based on a diagram showing properties of products), no technical contribution is made.