IP Newsflash

Judge Orrick in the Northern District of California recently granted a motion for judgment on the pleadings that the asserted claims are invalid for claiming patent-ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The patents-at-issue are directed to flight control systems for aircraft. The court found the claims unpatentable because they recite abstract mathematical techniques carried out by generic components performing their conventional functions.

Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Cameron Elliot recently found no violation of Section 337 in part because the claims recite patent-ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The patents are directed to polycrystalline diamond compacts (PDCs) used in drill bits for high-abrasion applications, such as earth-boring. The ALJ found that the claims recite conventional structural features combined with patent-ineligible performance measures and side effects.

Judge Orrick in the Northern District of California recently granted a motion for summary judgment of invalidity for patent-ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The court found that the claims recited the abstract idea of creating and transmitting video at two different resolutions and adjusting the video’s setting remotely.

A federal judge in the Northern District of California ruled that two patents asserted against Apple Inc. are invalid for failure to meet the patent-eligibility test as established in Alice. The patents are asserted by OpenTV, Inc., a subsidiary of Kudelski SA. OpenTV accuses Apple services such as Apple TV and iTunes of infringing patents generally directed to secure transmission of media content to a target device, such as a television, computer, or smartphone.

In a January 22, 2016 decision, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) denied institution of covered business method (CBM) review of an ATM patent under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Petitioner NRT Technology sought review of U.S. Patent No. 6,081,792, which relates to a modified ATM terminal that allows a user to obtain cash from a bank account through one of multiple alternative networks. According to the patent, when a cardholder attempts to withdraw money via an ATM network and fails because she has exceeded her daily limit, the request is routed through a different type of transaction, such as a point-of-sale (POS) network. When the POS transaction is approved, the ATM terminal informs a nearby money location—for example, a hotel concierge or a cash window at a casino—of the approved transaction, and the cardholder obtains the money from that location instead of the ATM terminal itself.