Dei Gratia Pty Ltd v Commissioner of Patents

Dei Gratia Pty Ltd appealed against the Commissioner of Patents' decision to reject its patent application for a logistics system. The invention claimed involved a network of modified local outlets, a customer ordering various types of goods and inputting the route of an upcoming trip, a computer processor automatically selecting the modified local outlet most convenient to that route, and the goods being delivered to that outlet and collected by the customer. The Commissioner rejected the application on the basis that the invention was not a manner of manufacture as required by s 18(1)(a) of the Patents Act 1990 (Cth). The Commissioner also found that the invention was not a computer-implemented scheme or business method. The court considered the proper construction of the specification and characterisation of the claimed invention in the context of the applicable principles. The court found that the invention claimed was not a manner of manufacture but rather in substance a logistics system. The court held that the invention did not involve a technical effect or advancement in computer technology, but rather relied on the practical use and implementation of a computer for its well-known and understood functions to perform the calculation of the optimum modified local outlet for the delivery of goods for collection by the particular customer according to their input route. The court dismissed the appeal and ordered that the appellant pay the respondent's costs of the proceeding.