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Software Patent
of the year 2006

April – Patent 3

EP1505903 – Method and equipment for displaying a heart rate signal

EU Patent on software (algorithm)
Application to European Patent Office by LMS Medical Systems, Ltd. (Canada)
Granted on 12/28/2005
Patent specification provided by FFII/Gauss
Patent specification provided by EPO/espacenet

Advice on the reading of patent specifications:

The decisive element are the claims, as they specify which actions are forbidden within the framework of the patent.
Violating one single claim is sufficient to be considered a patent violation. Generally, claim number 1 is the decisive main claim which covers all other claims relating to special cases.
The description is intended to help the reader interpret the claim. At the same time, it is supposed to document and disclose the details of the invention. This disclosure is the original purpose of the entire patent system.
In practice, a patent specification contains no detailed information on how the patented procedure could be implemented (even if the patent owner allowed the implementation). In particular, a software patent contains no program code (reference implementation), but merely describes the idea of a software.

Patented ideas:

Reprensation of fetal heart rates on the monitor with provision of a magnification possibility
Client-Server system for the monitoring of heart rates

Main claims:

Claim 1: In the graphical representation of the heart rates of a fetus the user selects an area which is then represented magnified.
Claim 25: Client-Server implementation or a representation of heart rates (not only of feti) with magnification possibility

Other claims:

Various methods are enumerated to select the area to be magnified: keyboard, mouse, touch screen, selection via "levers", selection via a transparent area, etc..
Display of various additional information in text form
Special cases: specification of the temporal size of the segments represented (minimum of 1 minute, 1 hour, about 4 hours, about 8 hours, etc.)
Additional display of further information: Uterine contraction patterns, maternal/fetal Oxygen saturation level, maternal blood pressure
Equipment (computer) on which the above-described software runs
Data medium on which the above-described software is stored
Network drive on which the above-described software is stored
Complete medical equipment containing the above-described computer as an integral part
Client-Server implementation with the incorporation of the Internet
Use of the above-mentioned various methods for selection of an area to be magnified in the client-server implementation
Additional indications of further information (see above) in the client-server implementation
Special case: client-server implementation for the representation of fetal heart rates

Description: The "description" describes how useful the area magnifications and additional information are for diagnosis and what advantages (e.g., remote recall) result from a client server implementation. This is followed by a rough outline of how the patent holder envisages the implementation of corresponding complete equipment. At the same time it is pointed out that the software can be written in any given programming language (e.g. C, C++, Java).

The choice of words suggests that any restriction of the validity of the patent would result in a restriction of the functionality of the equipment. If this is so, it is an intentional decision of the patent holder (and not of the patent office).

Everyday parallel:

Representation with magnification: A physician has the heart rates of a fetus graphically output on paper, viewing them first with the naked eye and then with a magnifying glass.
Client-server implementation: The physician ("server") sends the graphical representation to another physician ("client") via fax ("network"). The other physician then requests a segment magnification and gets it.

Examples for patent infringements:

The claimed method for representing heart rate signals is – not only for fetal heart rates – the only useful one. It may be assumed that any program for graphical representation of fetal heart rates violates Claim 1.
In situations depending on scalability and reliability (e.g., in hospitals), client-server implementations are extremely useful. Whoever thus offers a software for the graphical representation of heart rates cannot bypass this patent.

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