Software – Cases Shed New Light On Patentability

Computer implemented patents potentially face exclusion from patentability by way of section 1(2) of the Patents Act 1977 as "a program for a computer…as such".

The Court of Appeal in Aerotel framed the following four-step test:

1. Properly construe the claim;
2. Identify what the actual contribution is (i.e. identify what the claimed invention adds over the prior art);
3. Ask whether the actual contribution falls solely within the excluded subject matter; and
4. Check whether the actual or alleged contribution is actually technical in nature.