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ARTICLE · 21 FEBRUARY 2017

Federal Circuit Knocks Out Patents After CBM Challenge

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Apple successfully invalidated three patents for failure to recite patent eligible subject matter.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Antoinette Konski
Antoinette Konski
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Apple successfully invalidated three patents for failure to recite patent eligible subject matter. Apple, Inc. v. Ameranth, Inc., 2015-1792, 2015-1793 (Fed. Cir. 2016). The patents relate to synchronous communication systems for electronically generating and transmitting menu selections. While the covered technology is not directly related to personalized medicine, the Federal Circuit's review of the patents' specifications and the court's claim constructions in the context of a 35 U.S.C. § 101 challenge is instructive to patent applicants seeking to patent methods that may be characterized as an abstract idea, such as methods linking treatment options or clinical trials to potential patients.

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