Case No. IP-2017-000169

37.Netsweeper’s case was that there were two inventive concepts defined by the entirety of claims 1 and 11. Prosyscor started with six inventive concepts but as argument developed Prosyscor also focussed on claims 1 and 11. 38.As I said in Regen Lab SA v Estar Medical Ltd [2019] EWHC 63 (Pat) (at [234]), it is generally both helpful and necessary to simplify the inventive concept as much as can accurately be done. Unless a patent claim is very succinct, the inventive concept is almost bound to be more confined than the totality of the claim. In the context of a dispute about entitlement to a patent, being precise about the inventive concept is likely to matter when it comes to identifying who devised it. Of course, stating an inventive concept may require that it is put into some sort of context so that it can be understood. But it should be possible to distinguish between the context and the concept. 39.In the present case neither side made any attempt to be precise. For reasons that will become apparent, it didn’t matter. It is therefore not necessary for me to attempt to fillet out the inventive concepts contained in claims 1 and 11.