by Steve Driskill | Aug 1, 2016 | [sub] Alice step two, Subject Matter Eligibility
The collection, analysis, and display of information does not generally amount to significantly more under Mayo/Alice step two. Here, for example, the real-time performance monitoring of an electric power grid was found to be patent-ineligible because the claims...
by Steve Driskill | Aug 1, 2016 | [sub] specification, Estoppel / Disclaimer
Both repeated and summation characterizations of the invention serve to limit the invention as a whole. Here, for example, the generic term “node” was found to be limited to a “pager … that operates independently from a telephone network” because the specification...
by Steve Driskill | Jul 29, 2016 | [sub] broadest reasonable interpretation, Claim Interpretation
Unclaimed elements that are essential for operation of the claimed invention need not necessarily be claimed. Here, for example, information about how “patient compliance data” was obtained for the claimed recording of such information was found to be permissibly...
by Steve Driskill | Jul 28, 2016 | [sub] invocation, Means Plus Function
A coined-term element is generally subject to a means-plus-function interpretation. Here, for example, the claimed “symbol generator” for plotting user locations on a map was found to invoke 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶ 6 because its name was coined for the purposes of the...
by Steve Driskill | Jul 25, 2016 | [sub] inter partes review, PTO Procedure
The burden of proof does not automatically shift between the petitioner and the patent owner as soon as the PTO institutes an inter partes review. Here, for example, the petitioner’s failure to specifically address a motivation to combine the two prior art references...
