IPO The application is concerned with a computer-implemented system and method for supply chain planning in which the user is provided with a visual representation of the supply chain network and a high level plan display. These are interactive and the user can switch between them – for example to determine the effect of a change in production target on the supply chain or to investigate a stock supply problem. The results can then be used to generate a new plan.
The Hearing Officer applied the four part test set out in the Aerotel/Macrossan judgment, found the invention to be excluded as a computer program and as a method of doing business as such, and refused the application. She did not consider the invention provided a technical contribution of the type found in Symbian. In particular, a computer with the program of the present application did not provide, as a matter of practical reality, a ‘faster and more reliable computer’.
Judges:
Mrs S E Chalmers
Citations:
[2010] UKIntelP o42410, O/424/10, GB 0600191.1
Links:
Statutes:
Intellectual Property
Updated: 23 October 2022; Ref: scu.458158
