The Federal Court of Australia has allowed an appeal in favour
of patent applicant and appellant Technological Resources Pty Ltd
(a subsidiary of Rio Tinto) by dismissing an opposition decision of
a Delegate of the Commissioner of Patents.
This case is of particular interest as it flies in the face of
recent cases invalidating patents on the basis that they did not
relate to patentable subject matter. Justice Jagot, accepting
all of Technological Resources' submissions on this issue,
found that the series of physical steps involved in its invention
produced a 'physical and tangible result'. Therefore,
they could not be described as a mere scheme, mere working
directions, or a mere collocation of parts with no functional
interdependence — none of which are patentable. The
claimed invention was, contrary to the finding of the Delegate, a
manner of manufacture and therefore a patentable invention under s
18(1)(a) of the Patents Act.
