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PTAB on Eligibility: Four Recent Decisions
Ex parte Gillam, APPEAL 2021-002217, 2022 WL 1641777 (Patent Tr. & App. Bd. May 20, 2022) (RPI – Texas Instruments). [2021002297_Mail_Decision]
9. A method for evaluating a generalized rational function on a handheld graphing calculator, the method comprising:
determining, by a processor of the handheld graphing calculator, whether or not the generalized rational function has at least one asymptote; and
displaying, by the processor, the at least one asymptote on a display screen when the generalized rational function has the at least one asymptote, the displaying includes a textual representation of the at least one asymptote.
In its decision, the PTAB issued a new ground for rejection against Claim 9 for lacking subject matter eligibility. The Board concluded that the claim was directed to an unpatentable mathematical concept.
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Ex Parte Allaway, APPEAL 2021-002898, 2022 WL 1599499 (Patent Tr. & App. Bd. May 19, 2022) (Mars, Inc.).[2021002898_Mail_Decision]
1. A method of screening a foodstuff comprising:
(a) preparing a foodstuff comprising i) one or more of aspartic acid, serine, glutamic acid, glycine, alanine and praline, and ii) one or more of myristic acid, palmitic acid, stearic acid, palmitoleic acid, oleic acid and linolenic acid, the foodstuff further comprising a protein to fat ratio of 1:0.27 to 1:0.63 on a gram:gram as fed or dry matter basis;
(b) feeding a cat the foodstuff, and
(c) measuring the level of margaric acid in a blood sample from the cat before and after feeding the foodstuff, wherein an increase in endogenous margaric acid levels post prandially is indicative of a foodstuff effective to prevent or reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and/or inflammation in the cat.
Continue reading PTAB on Eligibility: Four Recent Decisions at Patently-O.
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Binge drinking harms teen rat brains
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Keys to Eligibility: Preemption, History, and Levels of Abstraction
by Dennis Crouch
The US Solicitor General has provided her input–arguing that the Supreme Court should grant American Axle’s petition and decide whether the claimed method of manufacturing a driveshaft is patent eligible. American Axle & Mfg., Inc. v. Neapco Holdings LLC, Docket No. 20-891 (Supreme Court 2022). [USDOJ Brief]
A decade ago, the Supreme Court decided Mayo v. Prometheus, 566 U.S. 66 (2012). Mayo broadened the scope of excluded “laws of nature” and established a two-step test for judging eligibility. The court followed-up two years later with Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 573 U.S. 208 (2014), extending Mayo‘s holdings to abstract ideas and computer implemented inventions. In the wake of these decisions, the USPTO substantially changed its practices as did the U.S. Courts. Thousands of claims have been denied, cancelled, or invalidated, but those involved still experience “substantial uncertainty about the proper application of Section 101.” In American Axle, the Federal Circuit reluctantly took the law a further step by finding abstract a method of manufacturing and calibrating a mechanical structure. The USDOJ concludes that the claim at issue here is a “paradigmatic examples of the ‘arts’ or ‘processes’ that may receive patent protection if other statutory criteria are satisfied.”
American Axle’s US Patent No.
Continue reading Keys to Eligibility: Preemption, History, and Levels of Abstraction at Patently-O.
Diabetes drug may also treat aging blood vessels
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