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United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office Decisions |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office Decisions >> Compurants Ltd (Patent) [2011] UKIntelP o28411 (11 August 2011) URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKIntelP/2011/o28411.html Cite as: [2011] UKIntelP o28411 |
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For the whole decision click here: o28411
Summary
The application relates to a computer-controlled interactive food and/or drink ordering system that can generate and print the bill at the request of the customer. In conventional restaurants, when requesting a bill, customers usually need to attract a waiter which can take some time to do. There may also be a further delay before the waiter presents the bill. The invention provides a system which includes a computer controlled projector that projects images onto the surface of a table, the images including an image of an icon or button, that, when selected by a customer operating an interface device, causes a message to be sent to an electronic point of sale system (EPOS) to generate and, if desired, print a bill for that customer.
The Hearing Officer applied the four part test set out in the Aerotel and Macrossan judgment and found the contribution made by the invention fell solely within excluded matter. She also considered the Court of Appeal decision in Symbian and the decision in AT&T & Cvon and concluded that the contribution did not have a relevant technical effect. The application was refused as being a program for a computer as such.
