Zusammenfassung von Article 056 EPC für die Entscheidung T1468/21 vom 01.04.2025

In T 1468/21 the differentiating features solved the technical problem of providing a fully autonomous locker. Feature [C] related to a particular way of creating or determining the opening code and of storing it in the locker. Features [E], [F], [G] and [H] related to the specific set-up of an autonomous locker and its relationship with the remote server / central control system in order to correctly distribute the valid opening code to the user and synchronise the autonomous locker with the central control system. Although the locker was autonomous with respect to other structural units like a telecommunication network or the central control system, the opening codes in the locker and the remote server needed to be updated and synchronised after the delivered goods had been collected from the autonomous locker (or delivered to the locker). The new opening codes had to be generated and synchronised in both the locker and the remote server. The five differentiating features [C], [E], [F], [G] and [H] were at least partially linked to the objective technical problem of rendering the locker autonomous; however, according to the board these features solved three separate technical "sub-problems" related to the cited technical problem. The first sub-problem related to the question of how the opening codes are created or selected. The second sub-problem related to the question of how to provide the same opening codes in the locker and the remote server. The third sub-problem related to the question of how to synchronise both separate units. With regard to the examining division's reasoning regarding the "broken technical chain fallacy", the board held that it was true that the locker and the "one or more terminals (4, 4')" were not technically linked to each other. The user's intervention was required to inform the remote server, via the "one or more terminals (4, 4')", that the locker door had been opened and/or closed; however, in the present case, contrary to cases T 1670/07 and T 1741/08, there was no "broken technical chain", since the user only enters a single piece of objective information on the "one or more terminals (4, 4')" without any subjective choice or specific mental activity on their part. In contrast to this, case T 1670/07 concerned optimising a shopping itinerary in which the vendors visited are selected according to the customer's user profile. The deciding board found that "the possible final technical effect brought about by the action of a user cannot be used to establish an overall technical effect because it is conditional on the mental activities of the user". In the deciding board's view, the technical effect, if present at all, depended on the user's reaction to the itinerary. The deciding board further explained, with reference to T 1741/08, that a user's reaction to a piece of (non-technical) information was considered to be a "broken technical chain fallacy". T 1741/08 concerned a graphical user interface (GUI) designed to assist the user in making choices on the GUI. The user's reaction is not a simple confirmation of a status quo by the user to the technical system, but instead the user responds subjectively to the information provided on the GUI. The board in the case in hand found that in contrast to these decisions, it becomes evident that a "user's reaction to information" is more than simple "feedback" in response to an actual situation. A "user's reaction to information" involves a subjective mental act performed by the user that is clearly distinct from simple feedback. Moreover, the user will recognise the simple feedback as an essential element for correctly using a technical system, as in the present case in which the user has no choice (apart from deciding whether or not to provide the expected input). For example, case T 1741/08 was in contrast to this, in which a user's reaction to information consisted of a selection from several given and offered possibilities. It could be argued that the entire process is stopped by a missing or incorrect user input (i.e. simple "feedback"); however, in the present case, this process interruption should not be interpreted as a possible "broken technical chain" since it is not the technical chain that is broken by subjective intervention of a user involving its reaction to information; the technical chain is merely broken by the claimed technical system being incorrectly used by the user. Therefore, inputting a single piece of information, which represents feedback on a factual, objective situation from a user within a technical process and does not require any mental activity on the part of the user, i.e. no specific reaction by the user to information, does not immediately lead to a "broken technical chain fallacy". The board therefore concluded that the examining division's decision was incorrect and that the subject-matter defined in claim 1 was inventive.