Source: https://www.saul.com/publications/alerts/federal-circuit-finds-improvement-computer-memory-systems-patent-eligible-and-not-%E2%80%9Cabstract-idea%E2%80%9D
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 02:15:11+00:00

Document:
On August 15, 2017, the Federal Circuit issued a decision in Visual Memory LLC v. NVIDIA Corp. that provides a favorable decision applicants and patentees can rely upon in seeking to obtain and defend patent claims directed to computer-implemented inventions. Specifically, the Federal Circuit held that a patent “claim[ing] an improvement to computer memory” is not directed to an abstract idea and is therefore patent-eligible under Alice Corp. Pty Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l, ___ U.S. ___, 134 S.Ct 2347 (2014).
The patent at issue provides a memory system with programmable operational characteristics that can be tailored for use with multiple different processors without the accompanying reduction in performance. The claimed technology overcame some of the disadvantages of the prior art memory systems that “lacked versatility because they were designed and optimized based on the specific type of processor selected for use in that system."
Beginning its analysis with Alice step one, the Court noted that it “must articulate with specificity what the claims are directed to… and ask whether the claims are directed to improvement to computer functionality versus being directed to an abstract idea.” The Court then referenced two recent cases, Enfish, LLC v. Microsoft Corp., 822 F.3d 1327 (Fed. Cir. 2016), and Thales Visionix Inc. v. United States, 850 F.3d 1343 (Fed. Cir. 2017), and determined that the ‘740 patent’s claims demonstrate that they are directed to “an improved computer memory system, not to the abstract idea of categorical data storage” in which a computer is used merely as a tool.
Finding that the asserted claims are not directed to an abstract idea, the Federal Circuit did not reach step two of Alice, and rather concluded that the claims are patent-eligible.
This decision provides another helpful fact pattern for application of the first Alice step that can be used by both patent applicants and patentees.
The Visual Memory decision follows the Federal Circuit’s 2016 Enfish decision. In Enfish, the claimed invention was directed to “an improvement in the functioning of a computer,” as contrasted with “simply adding conventional computer components to well-known business practices,” and thus satisfies step one of the software Alice framework. This rationale provides help and support for the patentability of many software patent applications, namely those that include claims reciting a specific improvement to existing technologies.
In conclusion, the Visual Memory court provides a favorable decision under step one of the Alice analysis. Visual Memory, Enfish, BASCOM Global Internet Services, Inc., v. AT&T Mobility LLC, 827 F.3d 1341 (Fed. Cir. 2016), and McRO, Inc. v. Bandai Namco Games America, 837 F.3d 1299 (Fed. Cir. 2016), (upholding claims under step one of the Alice inquiry) are emerging post-Alice decisions that provide examples of claims that are patentable under Alice. Given the common law approach adopted by the Federal Circuit, these decisions provide “guideposts” that applicants and patentees can use in seeking to obtain and defend claims directed to computer-implemented inventions.
In view of the continuing legal developments regarding the patentability of computer-implemented inventions, applicants continue to be well-served by developing patent applications that tell a problem/solution story, and that provide improvements over and solutions to disadvantages of prior art technology.
Saul Ewing attorneys regularly assist clients with drafting and prosecuting patent applications in the software field. If you have any questions about this Client Alert or would like more information, please contact Greg Bernabeo, one of the other attorneys in our intellectual property practice, or the attorney in the Firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

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