Computer based simulations are patentable, says High Court

UK-IPO had previously rejected a series of patent applications from Halliburton describing methods of designing a roller cone drill bit using various computer simulations. The organisation rejected the applications on the basis that they related to methods for performing mental acts, which are excluded from patentability by UK law. The High Court has now rejected this on appeal, holding that Halliburton's inventions are not methods of performing mental acts: they are limited to implementation on a computer, and the exclusion from patentability applies only to methods performed mentally. "UK patent law excludes mental acts, computer programs and mathematical methods from patentability," states Mark Kenrick, partner at Marks & Clerk. "However the High Court has made it crystal clear that an invention relating to a process for designing drill bits is neither just a computer program nor a mere mathematical method." And he continues: "It provides something technical – a drill bit design process – outside both of these exclusions. Furthermore, such a method cannot be considered to be a mental act, given its computer implementation. Consequently, it is now plain that technical processes are patentable, even if they are entirely computer-based in their implementation." Kenrick believes that the UK-IPO has earned a reputation as being relatively hostile to software patents, as compared with the European Patent Office. "This decision shows clearly that the exclusion relating to mental acts is a narrow one that should never affect the patentability of computer implemented inventions," he insists. This decision follows the EPO's position that computer based simulation methods are inherently patentable. Yesterday's ruling constituted a further clarification of the law in favour of patentability, following the landmark decision in Symbian (2008).