A mere functionally described display of information does not amount to significantly more than an abstract idea. Here, for example, the novel use of a downloadable application for out-of-region delivery of regional broadcast content was found to lack an inventive concept under Alice step two because the claims recited only the display of the content without defining how the content gets displayed. “The essential advance … is nothing but a functionally described display of information.” It may therefore be best to claim more specifically how information is manipulated, displayed, etc., rather than merely the result.
Background / Facts: The patent being asserted here is directed to streaming regional broadcast signals to cellular telephones located outside the region served by the regional broadcaster. The claims recite a cellular telephone that (1) requests and receives network-based content from the broadcaster via a streaming signal, (2) is configured to wirelessly download an application for performing those functions, and (3) contains a display that allows the user to select particular content. It is not disputed that the use of a downloadable application for presenting a graphical user interface on a cellular telephone capable of listing contents for streaming was novel as of the priority date of the patent.
Issue(s): Whether the novel use of such a downloadable application constitutes an “inventive concept” sufficient to transform the abstract idea of out-of-region delivery of regional broadcasting into a patent-eligible application of that abstract idea.
Holding(s): No. “The essential advance is not in the process of downloading applications, but only in the content of this particular application, and that is nothing but a functionally described display of information. That description does not cross out of the abstract idea category. [] There is no further specification of a particular technology for getting the defined content displayed. Thus, the user-downloadable application does not constitute an inventive concept sufficient to render the claims patent-eligible.”