“Patentability of Computer-Implemented Simulations in the European Patent Office – Decision G0001/19 of March 10, 2021 by the Enlarged Board of Appeal” (in Japanese)

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by Dr. Bernd Haberlander and Dr. Klaus Hinkelmann; translated & edited by Kozo Aoyama; in Chizai Kanri (Intellectual Property Management), Vol. 71, No. 9 (No. 849), pages 1170-1178.

The highest instance of the European Patent Office clarified in this decision that computer-implemented simulations are in principle patentable since they are directed to patentable subject-matter. Although such a simulation is effected on a computer and is thus based on software, it can produce a technical effect going beyond the simulation’s implementation on a computer. The assessment of inventive step should then be undertaken on the basis of the so-called COMVIK approach using the problem-solution approach. In this regard, only claim features which contribute to the solution of a technical problem should be considered, whereas non-technical features should be ignored.