- BL number
- O/402/20
- Concerning rights in
- GB1708043.3
- Hearing Officer
- Mr H Jones
- Decision date
- 19 August 2020
- Person(s) or Company(s) involved
- F Secure Corporation
- Provisions discussed
- Section 1(2)(c)
- Keywords
- Excluded fields (refused)
- Related Decisions
- None
Summary
The application relates to a proxy server that provides fake data relating to a user’s web browsing activities to tracking services on the internet. The proxy server identifies any requests that the client devices are sending which relate to tracking services. A small number of these requests are initially sent to the tracking service and the responses to these initial requests are then stored and analysed to generate a recipe. Subsequent requests from clients are not sent to the tracking service, but rather a ‘fake’ response is generated based on the recipe, one which will be acceptable to the tracking services but which will not disclose real information about the users. The invention is said to improve user privacy while still allowing websites and client devices to operate properly.
The Hearing Officer considered that the contribution made by the invention could not be judged in the light of a single piece of prior art but rather it should be determined against the state of the art as a whole. This meant that the contribution assessed by the Hearing Officer was different to that put forward by the applicant and was eventually found not to be technical. The application was refused as relating to a computer program as such.
https://www.ipo.gov.uk/p-challenge-decision-results/p-challenge-decision-results-bl?BL_Number=O/402/20
Content Reproduced verbatim from the Website of the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) as permitted under their Terms of Use.