In a Reversal, Federal Circuit Finds Data Processing Claims Patent-Eligible Under Section 101 In Visual Memory v. NVIDIA

Last week, the Federal Circuit held computer memory system patent claims not abstract and thus patent-eligible under Section 101, reversing a lower court dismissal of the case under Rule 12(b)(6). Visual Memory LLC v. NVIDIA Corp., No. 2016-2254, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 15187 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 15, 2017).

U.S. Patent No. 5,953,740 ("the '740 patent") describes a memory system that can be tailored for use with multiple different processors without reducing performance. Id. at 3. The '740 patent explains that when "the [memory] system is turned on, information about the type of processor is used to self-configure the programmable operational characteristics." Visual Memory, No. 2016-2254, slip op. at 4. "For example, depending on the type of processor, internal cache 16 can store both code and noncode data, or it can store only code data." Id. at 4. Claim 1 recites the following: