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[Patentstudent]

Software and database are not a field that I am involved in. However, one of my clients asked me the question whether the following method can be patented in Europe:

a method that uses a database with codes that represent a unique identification number for each air foil that is installed in all the jet engines around the world. By keying in that code, which is engraved in the air foils base, all the data about the origin, age, etc. of the air foil can be retrieved.

Is there somebody on the forum who can indicate whether in principle such a method can be patented in Europe? 

Please note that the air foil is just an example. However it is an example that shares some of the characteristics of the real object of the invention.

Thank you very much in advance.       

[khazzah]

Two things come to mind immediately when you ask "can this method of using a database be patented".

One, can methods of using a database be patented, in general. In the US, this boils down to statutory subject matter and 101. In Europe, I believe the relevant doctrine is called "technical contribution."

Two, will it likely be considered obvious to patent a new use of a database. Q2 is much harder to answer than one, because it's more fact specific. But it's still a question worth asking.

Are you asking about Q1, Q2, or both?

I'll leave the answer up to the EPO folks who hang out in this forum. But I thought your question should be clarified.

[MLM]

The use of general purpose computers alone is probably insufficient. However, if the computer provides some "technical effect" that is novel, it might be patentable.

[MYK]

I assume that you're using jet engine turbine blades as a substitute for whatever serialized product you're really thinking of, but generally speaking, if a product is serialized, then there is already a database somewhere with essentially every such item in it.  There might be multiple databases, say, if there was no central registry but the manufacturers kept their own databases in-house, but the databases and the ability to look up the information would generally exist at some level.

Being able to pull up history that way is an option on at least some such databases.  I worked at Boeing on the software that generated certain manuals for their 737NG and 777 fleets, and their database included every single installed item on every single aircraft, and every change along the timeline from date-of-delivery to present.  Now, Boeing probably doesn't have patents on their methods, but there is plenty of NPL on it -- weirdly enough, I ran into a guy in a bar in Amsterdam who was writing software in-house at his air freight company to interface with Boeing's database architecture, and he had to get the how-to information from somewhere.  (Overheard him talking about his job with someone, and said, "Hey, I used to do that too!"  Talk about a WTF moment.)

Another such system might be Canada's gun registry, which operated across multiple manufacturers' product lines and tracked ownership over time.

So, if this database concept is really that trivial, then while the concept might be patentable subject matter, it's been done so many times for so many products that it is unlikely to be patentable over the prior art.  You'd have to make a case that this was somehow a really innovative concept for Your Client's Product, but if everyone's serializing the things, then it's hard for me to see how it could be.

Anyway, "in principle" some European countries would allow such patents.  Give it a shot and see what happens.

[MYK]

Do keep in mind that the aviation industry tracks individual serialized parts all the time.  So it's not just the make and model of parts that Boeing is tracking in its databases, it's the make, model, and exact part(s) as used/installed over time.  Counterfeit detection, government regulations, safety concerns, failure analysis, trendspotting, whatever -- there are probably a dozen major reasons and a few dozen more minor ones for why they do it.