G 1/19 | ||
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Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office | ||
ECLI:EP:BA:2021:G000119.20210310 Decision issued on 10 March 2021 | ||
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G 1/19 is a decision issued by the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) on 10 March 2021, which deals with the patentability of computer-implemented simulations.[1][2]
The case, triggered by decision T 489/14 issued on 22 February 2019 by Board of Appeal 3.5.07, deals with a European patent application relating to "a computer-implemented method, computer program and apparatus for simulating the movement of a pedestrian crowd through an environment".[3][4] "The main purpose of the simulation is its use in a process for designing a venue such as a railway station or a stadium".[5][4] While Board 3.5.07 acknowledged the analogy with case T 1227/05 (Circuit simulation I/Infineon Technologies)[6] (in which the specific mathematical steps involved in a computer-implemented simulation of an electrical circuit subject to noise were found to contribute to the technical character of the invention),[7] which supported the applicant's case,[8] the Board did not agree with the conclusion reached by the deciding Board in T 1227/05.[4] Eventually, considering this to be a question of fundamental importance, Board 3.5.07 decided to refer three questions to the Enlarged Board of Appeal.
The three questions referred to the Enlarged Board of Appeal are:
Oral proceedings took place before the Enlarged Board of Appeal on July 15, 2020.[9] The oral proceedings were live streamed over the internet.[9] Additionally, third parties were given the opportunity to file written statements after the initial referral to the Enlarged Board of Appeal, to be considered as part of these oral proceedings, resulting in the filing of 23 amicus curiae briefs.[10]
The Enlarged Board of Appeal held "that existing case law regarding computer-implemented inventions also applies to computer-implemented simulations", and it retained "its established approach in assessing inventive step, known as the COMVIK approach".[2]