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ARTICLE · 20 FEBRUARY 2024

Dancing With Alice? Stay Within The Claims

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The Alice two-step analysis on patent eligibility cannot venture far outside the actual claim language according to the Federal Circuit's non-precedential...

United StatesIntellectual Property
Don Wang
Don Wang

The Alice two-step analysis on patent eligibility cannot venture far outside the actual claim language according to the Federal Circuit's non-precedential opinion issued on Thursday, February 1, 2024. See Eolas Techs. v. Amazon et al., No. 22-1932, 22-1933, 22-1934, 22-1935. Focusing on the claim language, the Federal Circuit disagreed with the District Court's characterization of the patented concept but still found the claims to be directed to an abstract idea. Similarly focusing on the claim language, the Federal Circuit affirmed the lack of an inventive concept to transform the abstract nature of the claims into patent-eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101.

The technology at issue involved the use of apps and plug-ins in internet browsers. The appeal stemmed from summary judgment of patent ineligibility of claims that the District Court determined were "directed to the abstract idea of enabling interactivity with remote objects on a client computer

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