Monday, December 23, 2019 T 1756/14 - Christmas is well-known

Might there be a new computer under this tree?

DeltaPatents wishes all the readers of this blog a very merry Christmas. Perhaps, you'll find a present under the Christmas tree.

If you're lucky it might contain a new computer. This Examiner asks you to imagine this scenario, "a family unpacking a new computer at Christmas".  According to the Examiner in this case, that is a well known occurrence, including the head ache of installing new software on it.

The applicant countered in appeal that the 'Christmas example' is fictitious, without substance and not
justified. Naturally, the Board cannot share this point of view: "The board agrees with the contested decision that the situation is one that commonly arises and which arose before the priority date in the present case (not only at Christmas)"

It turns out that our e-mail feed was not working for some time. I think I fixed it, so to all our e-mail readers, welcome back.