"What" Matters In Presentations Of Information

In decision T 0336/14 (Presentation of operating instructions/GAMBRO), the EPO's Technical Board of Appeal has offered some guidance in how "mixed inventions" involving presentations of information should be examined for inventive step.

The decision concerned an appeal against the interlocutory decision of the opposition division to maintain the opposed European patent EP1668556 in amended form. The patent was previously opposed on multiple grounds, including lack of novelty and inventive step. The appellant requested that the decision under appeal be set aside and the patent revoked on the ground of lack of inventive step with respect to a single prior art document.

At appeal, claim 1 of the main request directed to "a user interface for an extracorporeal blood treatment machine". The user interface in question uses a touch screen to display a sequence of pre-treatment preparation steps for a blood treatment machine. Touch keys associated with individual steps