Patent Office guidelines for computer implemented inventions

Following on from recent Patent Office success in court in rejecting Business Method Patents, the Patent Office has released new guidelines on the patentability of computer implemented inventions.

Whilst the court authorities are presently on appeal, the Office is proceeding to issue the guidelines to align practices with their preferred position, which was adopted by a recent Full Federal Court decision. The new guidelines appear to centralise power with the Office in adopting an approach that the Office will 'go beyond the form of words used'. The Office will be allowed to allege the 'substance of the alleged invention' is a scheme even where the claims define a physical product.