Opinion ID: 579288
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Apparatus Claims

Text: 50 The Simson apparatus for analyzing electrocardiographic signals is claimed in the style of 35 U.S.C. § 112, paragraph 6, whereby functionally described claim elements are construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof. Thus the statutory nature vel non of Simson's apparatus claims is determined with reference to the description in the '459 patent specification. In re Iwahashi, 888 F.2d 1370, 1375, 12 USPQ2d 1908, 1911-12 (Fed.Cir.1989). 51 The apparatus claims require a means for converting the electrocardiograph signals from the analog form in which they are generated into digital form. This means is described in the specification as a specific electronic device, a conventional analog-to-digital converter. A minicomputer, configured as described in the specification, is the means of calculating composite digital time segments of the QRS waveform. The product is stored, as stated in the specification, in the form of electrical signals. The high pass filter means is described in the specification as the minicomputer configured to perform the function of reverse time order filtration of the anterior portion of the QRS waveform. The specification and drawings show a disc memory unit to store the composite QRS signals, and associated connecting leads to the computer's processing unit. The comparing means is the processing unit configured to perform the specified function of root mean square averaging of the anterior portion of the QRS complex, and comparison of the resulting output with a predetermined level to provide an indication of the presence of late potentials in the electrocardiograph signal. 52 The Simson apparatus claims thus define a combination of interrelated means for performing specified functions. Iwahashi, 888 F.2d at 1375, 12 USPQ2d at 1911. The computer-performed operations transform a particular input signal to a different output signal, in accordance with the internal structure of the computer as configured by electronic instructions. The claimed invention ... converts one physical thing into another physical thing just as any other electrical circuitry would do. In re Sherwood, 613 F.2d 809, 819, 204 USPQ 537, 546 (CCPA 1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 994, 101 S.Ct. 1694, 68 L.Ed.2d 193 (1981) (holding statutory claims to an apparatus for analyzing seismic signals including mathematically described means for sonogramming, dividing, and plotting). 53 The use of mathematical formulae or relationships to describe the electronic structure and operation of an apparatus does not make it nonstatutory. Iwahashi, 888 F.2d at 1375, 12 USPQ2d at 1911. When mathematical formulae are the standard way of expressing certain functions or apparatus, it is appropriate that mathematical terms be used. See W.L. Gore & Assoc., Inc. v. Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d 1540, 1556, 220 USPQ 303, 315 (Fed.Cir.1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 851, 105 S.Ct. 172, 83 L.Ed.2d 107 (1984) (patents are directed to those of skill in the art). See also In re Bernhart, 417 F.2d 1395, 1399, 163 USPQ 611, 616 (CCPA 1969) (all machines function according to the laws of physics which can be mathematically set forth if known.) That Simson's claimed functions could not have been performed effectively without the speed and capability of electronic devices and components does not determine whether the claims are statutory. 54 Corazonix argues that the final output of the claimed apparatus (and process) is simply a number, and that Benson and Flook support the position that when the end product is a number, the claim is nonstatutory and can not be saved by claim limitations of the use to which this number is put. However, the number obtained is not a mathematical abstraction; it is a measure in microvolts of a specified heart activity, an indicator of the risk of ventricular tachycardia. That the product is numerical is not a criterion of whether the claim is directed to statutory subject matter. See Meyer, 688 F.2d at 796 n. 4, 215 USPQ at 198 n. 4 (explaining that so-called negative rules of patentability were not intended to be separate tests for determining whether a claim positively recites statutory subject matter.) 55 The Simson apparatus claims satisfy the criteria for statutory subject matter. They are directed to a specific apparatus of practical utility and specified application, and meet the requirements of 35 U.S.C. § 101.