Overview
The patentability of computer implemented inventions
(CII) has long been a contentious topic in
Australian patent law.
A few months ago, we wrote about Justice Robertson's
decision in Rokt Pte Ltd v Commissioner of Patents, which
overturned the Australian Patent Office's rejection of a patent
application for a CII relating to a digital advertising system and
method.
In the latest decision on CII, Encompass Corporation Pty Ltd
v Infotrack Pty Ltd, the Full Federal Court unanimously upheld
the trial judge's finding that the invention claimed in two
innovation patents was not patentable in that it was not a manner
of manufacture. The Full Court's decision in the
Encompass case continues the increasing line of cases in
which CIIs have been found not to be a manner of manufacture.
