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ARTICLE · 30 MAY 2020

Software Patent Allowed In Australia For Tracking User Action

Davies Collison Cave
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This makes it difficult for an advertiser to determine whether a user interacting with their advertisement has used a link in the advertisement to download an application.

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Isaac Tan
Isaac Tan
Richard Brown
Richard Brown
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In a welcome turn of events, a recent Australian Patent Office decision, Facebook, Inc. [2020] APO 19, found that a system for tracking the installation of applications on mobile devices via advertisements constitutes patent eligible subject matter.

The outcome is a win for patent applicants and inventors of computer-implemented inventions because it demonstrates that an invention can constitute patentable subject matter even if it addresses a business problem and only requires generic computer implementation.

Background - looking outside the sandbox

The patent application, titled 'Conversion tracking for installation of applications on mobile devices', relates to a system for tracking whether a user has installed an application on their mobile device as a result of interacting with an advertisement for that application.1 For example, while using a social networking application, a user may be presented with an advertisement containing a link to download a

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