The High Court of Australia today refused the application for special leave to appeal the decision of the Full Court of Australia in the long-running Aristocrat matter, in which the Full Court found claims to an electronic gaming machine to be patent-eligible subject matter.

In so doing, the High Court stated :

In light of the background to this application, there is insufficient reason to doubt the correctness of the decision of the Full Court. A grant of special leave to appeal is not in the interests of the administration of justice in circumstances in which that Full Court applied established principles concerning the assessment of manner of manufacture and reached a unanimous and clear conclusion as to characterisation.

This gives applicants, attorneys, and the Australian public greater certainty regarding the correct principles for examining computer-implemented inventions and we look forward to the Australian Patent Office adopting and applying those principles.

COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS v ARISTOCRAT TECHNOLOGIES AUSTRALIA PTY LTD ACN 001 660 715 [2026] HCADisp 15 S153/2025