is as follows: Properly construe the claim; Identify the actual contribution; Ask whether the contribution falls solely within excluded subject matter; and Check whether the contribution is technical in nature. The second step, that of identifying the contribution, was highlighted as being the most problematic since it may be difficult to determine what the contribution actually is. Aerotel v Telco Aerotel's patent was found to relate to a patentable invention in principle because the system as a whole was new in itself, not merely because it is to be used for the business of selling phone calls. While this system could be implemented using conventional computers, the key to it was a new physical combination of hardware. The judge felt that this was clearly more than just a method of doing business as such. The method claims were construed as relating to a use of the new system and were also deemed to relate to a patentable invention in principle. The additional questions of whether the claimed invention was novel and involved an inventive step were not considered directly by the judge, although the implication is that the invention was at least novel. Macrossan's application In relation to Macrossan's patent application, it was held that the subject matter was unpatentable on the grounds of the computer program and business method exclusions. However, in relation to the mental act exclusion, the Court of Appeal made no specific finding. Reasoning In both cases, the judgment does not explain in detail how the contributions provided by the claimed inventions were identified and provides little guidance for how the second step of the test could be carried out in other cases. Instead, the reader is directed to the lengthy summary of past case law that is included as an Appendix to the judgment to understand the reasoning of the judges fully. Based on this summary of the case law, the judgment rejects the notion set out in the earlier judgment concerning Fujitsu's Application that the UK Courts should be guided by the case law of the EPO since the judges were of the opinion that EPO case law was too unsettled. The judgment briefly mentions the TRIPS agreement and the fact that its lack of a list of exclusions from patentability and its requirement that patents should be available in "all fields of technology" puts political pressure on Europe to remove or reduce the