BASCOM—Federal Circuit Holds Internet Content Filtering Patent Passes Alice Test

In a Section 101 analysis under Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Intl., "[a]n inventive concept can be found in the non-conventional and non-generic arrangement of known, conventional pieces"—even if individual claim limitations recite non-inventive features.

On June 27, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held in BASCOM Global Internet Servs., Inc. v. AT&T Mobility LLC that BASCOM's patent claims were valid under 35 U.S.C. § 101.¹ The three judge panel of Judges Newman, O'Malley, and Chen held that "an inventive concept can be found in the non-conventional and non-generic arrangement of known, conventional pieces." In so holding, the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded the district court's order granting AT&T Mobility LLC's and AT&T Corp.'s (collectively, "AT&T's") motion to dismiss under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6).