Claiming An Abstract Idea In A Technical Context At The EPO

Two recent decisions of an EPO Technical Board of Appeal emphasise the need for a proper technical context to be set out in claims to render an abstract idea patentable. The two appeals, by Ab Initio Technology LLC, related to inventions in the field of parallel processing, a field that seems on the face of it highly technical. However, the inventions were claimed as processes for converting computation graphs into a form better adapted for parallel processes but without specifying any steps of performing any processing, parallel or otherwise. At this level of generality the Board considered the inventions to be non-technical as merely mathematical methods. Claims to methods involving actual execution of the converted graphs were not sought, possibly because of lack of good basis in the applications as originally filed, but ought to have saved the day. This emphasises the need for detailed consideration of issues of technicality at the drafting stage.