Recent decisions of the EPO and of the UK Patent office have highlighted the problems faced by inventors of new business methods and seeking patent protection in Europe.
EPO Appeal Board decisions fall into three categories: those selected for publication in the Official Journal, those important enough to be circulated to all appeal board members and presumably to be mentioned in the next available edition of the book entitled Case Law and published by the EPO appeal boards, and those of minor importance which are circulated to appeal board chairman only. The decision in T 0931/95 Controlling pension benefits system/PBS Partnership falls into the second category, and is highly instructive about the attitude of the EPO towards business methods inventions.
