Topic
Abstract Ideas
44 published works
PatentNext
Ex parte Carmody: A Quiet but Important Signal on AI Eligibility Under §101
Following the USPTO’s high-profile actions in Desjardins, the next question was how that guidance would play out in ordinary PTAB appeals. Ex parte Carmody provides an early answer. The decision…
Patent Law Weblog
Why the Alice Test is Stupid, Part II: The Mental Steps Doctrine Literally Makes No Sense
By Michael S. Borella – From a technical standpoint, everything a computer does involves reading, manipulating, and storing information through microcode instructions that move around 0’s and 1’s. Each operation…
The Patent Playbook
Federal Circuit Lifts § 101 Barrier on Smart Dumbbells
On August 11, 2025, the Federal Circuit reversed the District of Utah’s ruling that all but one of the claims in PowerBlock Holdings, Inc.’s U.S. Patent No. 7,578,771 were invalid…
Intellectual Property Law Blog
Federal Circuit Affirms Invalidation of Patents Manipulating Medical Imaging Data as Abstract
The Federal Circuit held that patent claims directed to storing and providing medical images over the web as “virtual views” were invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because they involved…
The IP Law Blog
And Again, Abstract Ideas are Not Patentable!
The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down many patents on the grounds that they are invalid as directed to an abstract idea, relying on the Supreme Court’s Alice…
The IP Law Blog
A Prototypical Corporate Salesperson is Not Patentable!
The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals continues to strike down patents directed to abstract ideas under the Alice test for patent subject matter eligibility. In People.ai, Inc. v. Clari Inc.…
Harness Dickey Blog
Storing and Displaying Video is an Abstract Idea
In Hawk Technology Systems, LLC v. Castle Retail, LLC, [2022-1222] (February 17, 2022), the Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of the suit because the asserted patent claims of U.S. Patent…
The IP Law Blog
District Court Finds Asserted Claims of Aerial Roof Measurement Patent Invalid Under 35 U.S.C. § 101
In Pictometry International Corp. v. Roofr, Inc., the court found the plaintiff's aerial roof measurement patents encompassed unpatentable subject matter and therefore granted defendant's motion to dismiss.
Harness Dickey Blog
§101: Why We Won’t Have Nice Things
By Todd
In a recent IPWatchdog panel discussion, Harness Dickey’s new CEO Ray Millien posited that the only obstacle to autonomous cars is software. Given the present state of §101 jurisprudence, however,…
The IP Law Blog
Once Again, Generic Computer Systems That Do Routine Functions are Not Patentable!
Patents protect inventions. However, patents protect only certain inventions. In order to be patentable, an invention must fall within one of four categories of patent-eligible subject matter: articles of manufacture,…