T 944/15 (Monitoring patient position / Brainlab) of 3.11.2020 is a remarkable decision, as it applies the exclusion from patentability for therapeutic methods (Art. 53(c) EPC) to computer programs. Should this approach be followed by other decisions, this would have significant impact on the patenting of computer-implemented inventions.
The appeal in this case is against the decision of the examining division refusing EP appl. 10711384.7. Claim 1 of the Main Request then on file related to a method for controlling a process of monitoring the position of a part of a patient's body during radiation therapy. The method claim was not allowed under Art. 53(c), because - although it did not contain any features explicitly defining steps of therapeutic nature - it was regarded "indissociable linked" to a method of therapy. The patent was revoked. The appeal was directed against this decision to revoke.
