Sunday, November 20, 2016 T 1802/13 - Medical imaging - is presenting the information technical?

In this decision it needs to be settled if in medical imaging the claimed superposition of a leadwire has a technical effect. The Board goes into the discussion of presentation of information, differentiating between what is presented and how it is presented (cognitive aspect). Regarding the technicality of the manner in which (i.e. "how") information is presented - the main issue to be established is whether the underlying user interface together with the manner in which cognitive content is presented credibly assists the user in performing a technical task by means of a continued and guided human-machine interaction process (basically related to the question "for what purpose" the content is presented). The Board decides that it is not derivable from the claim - beyond mere speculation - that it credibly brings about the technical effect of accurately predicting the electrodes' properties and providing that information to the surgeon in an efficient manner. The case is dismissed as lacking inventive step.

Tuesday, June 21, 2016 T 690/11 - When is presenting information technical?

Set-up procedure screen without web-browser

This opposition appeal concerns a dialysis system that shows set-up procedure screens to help an operator.

Claim 1 of the patent as granted reads as follows:

"A dialysis system (10,100) comprising:
a display device (40); and
a web browser (602) and web server(604) embedded in the dialysis system, characterized in that the browser and the server operate with the display device to:
display a plurality of dialysis therapy set-up procedure screens that require an operator input, and
display a plurality of dialysis treatment screens that graphically illustrate the progress of at least one step in the dialysis therapy in at least substantially real time."

The opponent considers that the features of displaying dialysis therapy set-up procedure screens and treatment screens are non-technical and should be disregarded for inventive step. The board disagrees, and finds this claim inventive over a dialysis system with a web browser. The comparable case T 336/14, which featured earlier on this blog, went the other way; the present claim is distinguished from it in the decision below.

Tuesday, January 05, 2016 T 336/14 - Providing instructions with a device

No instructions were provided with this blood orange

This opposition appeal concerns a blood treatment machine which is distinguished from the prior art by displaying "operating instructions for readying the machine for use" and at least two "pictographs which represent configurations of the machine correlated to the operating instructions".

These features are on the one hand presentation of information but on the other hand are related to technical interaction with a machine. Unfortunately for the proprietor these technical aspects do not save his claim. 

I find the discussion also interesting because the claim is close to claim 3 of EQE Paper C of 2008 (pdf). Already then candidates who wanted to become an attorney had to argue that providing novel instructions together with a device does not render the claim inventive. Nevertheless, so many years later the discussion of this problem by the board shows that this question is not as straightforward as might at first glance seem.