• Apple Inc. v. Smartflash LLCAll claims unpatentable
  PTAB · Mar 29, 2016 · CBM2015-00016 · APJ Jeremy M Plenzler · CBM · Final written decision

  Claims 6, 8, and 10 are unpatentable under § 101; claim 11 is unpatentable under § 112 ¶ 2; the proceeding is terminated as to claim 1.

  RulingsFinal written decision

  • PTAB / AIA Trials › §315(e) estoppelEstoppel appliesDecided for petitioner

    “B. Related Matters and Termination In a previous covered business method patent review, CBM2014- 00106, we issued a Final Written Decision determining claim 1 unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 103. CBM2014-00106, Paper 52. Because Apple was the petitioner in that proceeding, we found that § 325(e)(1) estops Apple from filing or maintaining a proceeding before the Office with respect to claim 1, i.e., the same claim, in this case. Paper 50 (“Estoppel Order”), 4. We, therefore, ordered Apple not to present argument with respect to the patentability of that claim at the oral hearing on November 9, 2015. Id. at 8.” slip op. at 3

  • Adverse judgmentAdverse judgmentGranted

    “We are persuaded that the particular facts of this proceeding now counsel in favor of termination with respect to claim 1. 37 C.F.R. § 42.72. Claim 1 of the ’458 patent has been finally cancelled and any decision we might reach in this proceeding regarding the patentability of this claim would be moot and purely advisory. We do not see how the just, speedy, and inexpensive resolution of every proceeding (37 C.F.R. § 42.1(b)) would be secured by rendering a final written decision with respect to claim 1.” slip op. at 3

  • Patent Eligibility (§101) › Alice/Mayo step one — 'directed to'Step1 directed to exceptionUnpatentable

    “We agree that the challenged claims are drawn to a patent-ineligible abstract idea. Specifically, the challenged claims are directed to performing the fundamental economic practice of controlling access to content. For example, claim 6 recites “code to evaluate the use status data using the use rules data to determine whether access is permitted to the stored data” and “code to access the stored data when access is permitted.” As discussed above, the ’458 patent discusses addressing recording industry concerns of data pirates offering unauthorized access to widely available compressed audio recordings. Ex. 1201, 1:20–55. The ’458 patent proposes to solve this problem by restricting access to data on a device based upon satisfaction of use rules linked to payment data. Id. at 9:7–25. As Petitioner notes (Pet. 26), the ’458 patent makes clear that the claimed subject matter is directed to paying for data and providing access to data. See Ex. 1201 at 2:20–23 (“This invention is . . . particularly . . . relate[d] to a portable data carrier for storing and paying for data and to computer systems for providing access to data.”). Although the specification discusses data piracy on the Internet (see id. at 1:29–39), the challenged claims are not limited to the Internet. The underlying concept of the challenged claims, particularly when viewed in light of the ’458 patent specification, is controlling access to content, as Petitioner contends. As discussed further below, this is a fundamental economic practice long in existence in commerce. See Bilski, 561 U.S. at 611. We are, thus, persuaded, based on the ’458 patent specification and the language of the challenged claims, that claims 6, 8, and 10 are directed to an abstract idea. See Alice, 134 S. Ct. at 2356 (holding that the concept of intermediated settlement at issue in Alice was an abstract idea); Accenture Global Servs., GmbH v. Guidewire Software, Inc., 728 F.3d 1336, 1344 (Fed. Cir. 2013) (holding the abstract idea at the heart of a system claim to be “generating tasks [based on] rules . . . to be completed upon the occurrence of an event”).” slip op. at 8

  • Patent Eligibility (§101) › Alice/Mayo step two — inventive conceptStep2 no inventive conceptUnpatentable

    “The specification of the ’458 patent treats as well-known all potentially technical aspects of the claims, which simply require generic computer components (e.g., interfaces, program store, and processor). The linkage of existing hardware devices to supplier-defined access rules appear to be “‘well-understood, routine, conventional activit[ies]’ previously known to the industry.” Alice, 134 S. Ct. at 2359; Mayo, 132 S. Ct. at 1294. Further, the claimed computer code simply performs generic computer functions, such as accessing, retrieving, and evaluating data. See Pet. 29–30. The recitation of these generic computer functions is insufficient to confer specificity. See Content Extraction and Transmission LLC v. Wells Fargo Bank, 776 F.3d 1343, 1347 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (“The concept of data collection, recognition, and storage is undisputedly well-known. Indeed, humans have always performed these functions.”). Moreover, we are not persuaded that claims 6, 8, and 10 “recite specific ways of using distinct memories, data types, and use rules that amount to significantly more than” conditioning and controlling access to content based on payment. See PO Resp. 18. The challenged claims do not recite any particular or “distinct memories.” To the extent Patent Owner argues that the claimed “program store” is a memory, Patent Owner does not provide any argument as to how it is constructed or implemented in an unconventional manner. Moreover, the claims recite several generic data types, such as “code,” “use status data,” and “use rules data.” We are not persuaded that the recitation of these data types, by itself, amounts to significantly more than the underlying abstract idea. Patent Owner does not point to any inventive concept in the ’458 patent related to the way these data types are constructed or used. The recitation of generic data types, being used in the conventional manner, is insufficient to confer the specificity required to elevate the nature of the claims into a patent-eligible application. Alice, 134 S. Ct. at 2355 (quoting Mayo, 132 S. Ct. at 1294) (“We have described step two of this analysis as a search for an ‘inventive concept’—i.e., an element or combination of elements that is ‘sufficient to ensure that the patent in practice amounts to significantly more than a patent on the [ineligible concept] itself.’”) (brackets in original). In addition, the ’458 patent simply recites data types with no description of the underlying implementation or programming that results in these data types. See Content Extraction and Transmission LLC, 776 F.3d at 1347 (“The concept of data collection, recognition, and storage is undisputedly well-known. Indeed, humans have always performed these functions.”). In addition, because the recited elements can be implemented on a general purpose computer, the challenged claims do not cover a “particular machine.” Pet. 36; see Bilski, 561 U.S. at 604–05 (stating that machine-or-transformation test remains “a useful and important clue” for determining whether an invention is patent eligible). And the challenged claims do not transform an article into a different state or thing. Pet. 36.” slip op. at 10

  Patent outcomesUS 8,033,458 unpatentable
  § 101 eligibility§ 112 disclosurecites Alice · Mayo · Bilski · Nautilus
  Patents in suitUS 8,033,458

Holdings, summaries, rulings, issues, outcomes, winners and claim constructions shown for a decision were generated by a large language model reading the opinion. They are a guide to the decision, not the decision. Confirm every one against the court's own text before relying on it. Outcomes read from the patent owner’s side. Party names are extracted from the decision and are missing on about 900 short Director denials and scans, which carry the trial number instead.