Patent Prosecution and Defeating Abstractness: Minimizing the Risk of Sect. 101 Rejection

The Supreme Court’s decision in Alice implemented a two-step test, the first of which focuses on abstractness. Since Alice, the Federal Circuit has issued decisions that provide guidance on determining whether a claim is directed to an abstract idea. The Enfish, BASCOM, DDR Holdings, Rapid Litigation and McRO rulings help bring clarity to the Alice test.

In DDR Holdings and BASCOM, the Federal Circuit discussed a problem-solution approach to finding patent eligibility, despite abstractness. In Enfish and McRO, the Court emphasized the Specification’s teachings vis-à-vis the prior art. These cases provide guidance on how to successfully navigate the post-Alice minefield of 35 U.S.C. § 101 abstractness rejections in the absence of a clear guideline on what is considered abstract.

Listen as our authoritative panel of patent attorneys examines the different approaches taken by the Federal Circuit to determine patent-eligibility. The panel will offer best practices for evaluating and applying these approaches and addressing patent eligibility challenges.

1. Approaches to defeat abstractness
   1. Clearly stated problem/solution
   2. Claim formats to use and avoid
   3. Well-defined claim terms
2. Lessons from recent Federal Circuit decisions
   1. DDR Holdings v. Hotels.com (Fed. Cir. 2014)
   2. Enfish v. Microsoft Corp. (Fed. Cir. May 12, 2016)
   3. BASCOM Global Internet Services v. AT&T Mobility (Fed. Cir. June 27, 2016)
   4. Rapid Litigation Management v. Cellzdirect (Fed. Cir. July 5, 2016)
   5. McRO, Inc. v. Bandai Namco Games America, Inc. (Fed. Cir. Sept. 13, 2016)
3. Best practices for overcoming patent eligibility challenges

The panel will review these and other key issues:

• How are the courts applying the framework for patent eligibility created in Alice?
• What guidance can be gleaned from the Federal Circuit’s decisions in Enfish, BASCOM, DDR Holdings, Rapid Litigation and McRo?
• What are best practices for patent counsel to avoid patent-eligibility issues?