Truancy Patent Goes Missing Inwards Part

This came out yesterday from the subscription-only LexisNexis All England Reporter.

Frontline registered a patent inwards the Great Britain entitled ‘Attendance Registration System past times Radio Link’, which was filed amongst a priority engagement of vii Oct 1992. The patent was for a schools attendance record-keeping organization of pupil attendance at schoolhouse using portable information collection units, such every bit laptop or palmtop computers, equipped amongst transceivers that communicated amongst a cardinal estimator via a wireless network. Claims 1 as well as 2 were broadly conceptual, piece claim vii related to the exercise of radio frequency transceiver units (RTUs) which could command the traffic information flowing betwixt the portable units as well as the cardinal computer.

It later transpired that K, a exercise built schoolhouse that opened earlier the patent’s priority date, operated networked PCs. This network was used for teaching as well as administrative purposes, including collecting information inwards relation to pupil attendance. The Secretary of State thence sought revocation of the patent.

David Young QC, sitting every bit an additional judge, upheld the patent inwards part. Claims 1 as well as 2 were obvious as well as lacking inwards an inventive pace inwards persuasion of K’s prior use. Claim vii was non yet obvious inwards the low-cal of either the cited prior fine art or whatever exercise or disclosures. The concept of a wireless network organization using portable laptops or palmtops inwards house of wired PCs was no to a greater extent than than a logical option to K’s system, every bit would bring been obvious at the fabric time, to a squad of persons skilled inwards the information technology teaching champaign as well as a to full general systems analyst considering K’s system. However claim 7, relating to the exercise of intelligent RTUs, was something that those skilled inwards the fine art amongst the assistance of a radio frequency information technology specialist could bring arrived at alone amongst hindsight.

marvels at how clever everyone seems to live after the event. Lack of inventive pace must live a existent hurting for pocket-size scale inventors, whose investment is ever at opportunity of a key patent beingness establish to live obvious many years after the event. At to the lowest degree inwards this instance Claim vii survived, but non all patentees are as well as then lucky.

School attendance as well as truancy here, here, here and here
Some odd truants here and here; skiving off here and here