September 2014

Looking Ahead

On September 3, 2014, in buySAFE, Inc. v. Google, Inc., No. 13-1575 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 3, 2014), the Federal Circuit affirmed that claims directed to familiar commercial arrangements using computers and networks were invalid for covering subject matter not eligible for patent protection under 35 U.S.C. § 101.  The asserted claims recite methods and machine-readable media encoding steps for guaranteeing a party’s performance of its online transaction.  Applying the approach to § 101 affirmed by the Supreme Court in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014), the Federal Circuit held that the claims were squarely about a contractual relationship—a “transaction performance guaranty”—that was beyond question of ancient lineage and an abstract idea.  Furthermore, according to the Court, the claims’ invocation of computers added no inventive concept, rendering the claims invalid under § 101.