T 0035/20 (Double press to pay/APPLE) vom 17.05.2024

Inventive step - double press on button with integrated fingerprint sensor to pay with phone
Inventive step - (yes
Inventive step - not a mere user requirement)

The term "user requirement" is often used when assessing the technicality of features of user interfaces. The Board understands the term to refer to needs and preferences defined by the end user of a system, who does not possess any technical understanding of the system. Under the Comvik approach (T 641/00 - Two identities/COMVIK), such user requirements may appear in the formulation of the technical problem as they do not make any technical contribution. It was confirmed in T 1463/11 - Universal merchant platform/CardinalCommerce that non-technical (user) requirements cannot normally specify any technical matter or be based on technical considerations. That is not to say that they cannot refer to the underlying technical system at all. Just like the technically skilled person, the user starts from the technical system of the prior art; user requirements do not appear in a vacuum. Thus, if the user uses software on a computer, he may formulate non-technical requirements relating to this software (see e.g. T 2019/12 - Angabe einer Order/Lacqua). Analogously, if, as in the present case, the system is a mobile phone, the user may formulate requirements relating to the use of the phone, as long as they do not involve technical considerations or require technical understanding.
(See point 8 of the reasons)