Nokia Technologies Oy is a global communications company. The Company is known for developing a wide variety of technological devices and software and controls global networks, sales, and communication channels.
In India, the business of Nokia Technologies Oy focuses on Video processing, application-based routing of data packets in multi-access communication networks, Controlled switching of multicast traffic between selective and inclusive routes based on a number of multicast receivers, Service automation for IoT devices using P4, and Uplink resources for ultra-reliable and low latency communication.
Nokia Technologies Oy filed a patent application numbered 9602/DELNP/2012 that is titled as AN APPARATUS METHOD COMPUTER PROGRAM AND USER INTERFACE. The patent has been filed in the field of Computer Science. This Patent Application has been granted as Patent Number 351446. This invention covers a method, computer program, and apparatus wherein the apparatus has a user input device, a processor; and a memory including computer program code. The memory and the computer program code are configured to enable the apparatus to provide a user-selectable part of the user input device.
During the patent examination, the patent examiner raised objections under Section 3(k) of the Indian Patents Act, 1970. It was pointed out that the subject matter of the claims disclose a set of sequences used to implement a protocol or algorithm executed by a computer program comprising code cause the apparatus to perform the method of any of the claims, without disclosing any constructional or structural aspects of the said features. All the method & apparatus claims refer to protocols and algorithms per se. Thus, the claimed invention is not patentable.
As a response, the Applicant submitted that the “method” claims include hardware elements such as user input device, memory, processor, user-selectable part, etc. to perform the invention. Therefore, the method claims of the invention do include hardware elements to perform the functionality of the invention. Likewise, the queried “apparatus’ claims also include hardware features such as user input device, processor, memory, user-selectable part, etc. Further, the “computer program product” claims were deleted from the amended set of claims.
Advocate Rahul Dev is a Patent Attorney & International Business Lawyer practicing Technology, Intellectual Property & Corporate Laws. He is reachable at rd (at) patentbusinesslawyer (dot) com & @rdpatentlawyer on Twitter.
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