“Template for Tailoring” Falls on Losing Side of Computer-Based Patent Eligibility Divide

In GoTV Streaming, LLC v. Netflix, Inc., No. 24-1669 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 9, 2026), the Federal Circuit reversed a district court’s holding that GoTV’s claims were patent eligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101. 

GoTV asserted against Netflix three patents directed to tailoring content presentation to a particular wireless device’s screen size or other capabilities. Netflix moved for judgment on the pleadings that the asserted claims were subject-matter ineligible under § 101. The district court denied Netflix’s motion, finding the claims eligible at Alice stepone, after which a jury found Netflix liable for infringement and awarded GoTV $2.5 million in damages. Netflix appealed. 

The Federal Circuit reversed the eligibility determination. At Alice step one, the Court recognized the dividing line between computer-based claims that use ordinary computer functions to carry out abstract ideas (which require moving to Alice step two) and those that improve how functions are carried out (which are not ineligible). Analogizing to a sartorial dress pattern, the Court determined that GoTV’s claims were directed to the abstract idea of “a template set of specifications . . . that can be tailored . . . for final production of the specified product (here an image) to fit the user’s constraints.” Recognizing that Alice step two “often overlaps with” step one, the Court found that the claims failed at step two for the same lack of “how” functionality improvement.