Swedish government to defend Subject Matter Test in Munich next Month

-> [ Statskontoret | EPO | Priorities | Patent News ]

There is an open oral proceeding at the European Patent Office (EPO) in München 16 November regarding the opposition filed by the Swedish Agency for Public Management (Statskontoret, a government agency).

• details

• EPO dossier

Opposition Arguments

It is very interesting to read the arguments. The defender of the patent agrees with EPO, but Statskontoret objects:

• "1. Concerning non-patentable matter, Article 52(2)(c) EPC" [...]
  • "We are of the opinion that the method according to the patent
  specifies technical means for a purely non technocal purpose and for the processing of purely non technical information, and that these technical means does not confer a technical chartacter on any of the steps or on the methods as a whole."

Things for FFII to do (?)

Statskontoret at least try to defend the subject matter test, but they make it weaker than necessary. A more elegant way of putting it might have been:

• We are of the opinion that the method according to the patent specifies technical means for processing data, and that these technical means does not confer a technical chartacter on any of the steps or on the methods as a whole.

It may be too late for intervening in the proceding, but we could try to file some arguments (amicus curiae brief).