Amicus curiae brief on Enlarged Board of Appeal case G1/19

Industry has benefitted from a decade of consistency in Europe regarding the patentability of inventions involving computer-implemented simulation.

This has been achieved by applying the reasoning of EPO Board of Appeal decision T1227/05, which looked at the technical purpose of a claimed computer simulation to decide whether it had technical character.

CIPA supports the approach set out in T1227/05, and the significant body of case law which has followed this approach: claim features that serve a technical purpose have technical character and so contribute to the assessment of inventive step. We do not share the position of the Board in T0489/14, which is “not fully convinced by the … reasoning” of T1227/05. On the contrary, based on legal considerations and practical experience, we submit that the Enlarged Board should uphold the approach of T1227/05.

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Date Published: 3 September 2019

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