A rare five member bench of the Full Court of the
Federal Court delivered its much anticipated decision in
Encompass Corporation Pty Ltd v InfoTrack Pty Ltd [2019]
FCAFC 161.
Although the Full Court found that the two computer-implemented
inventions lacked patentable subject matter, the failed appeal does
not spell the demise of computer-implemented inventions generally.
Rather, the Court re-affirmed that implementation of a 'mere
scheme' or 'abstract idea' by 'generic
software' will not transform an alleged invention into
patentable subject matter.
It was, however, a lost opportunity for the Court to take the
matter further and set out definitively what is, and is not,
patentable subject matter in computer-implemented inventions. The
Court's decision leaves companies in an uncertain position when
assessing their ability to obtain patents to protect key software
developments.
