The Supreme Court’s decisions from Alice and Mayo are beginning to really have their impact. A few examples:
- Walker Digital v. Google (D. Del. September 2014) (data processing patent invalid under 101 as an abstract idea) (Judge Stark).
- Genetic Tech v. LabCorp and 23AndMe (D. Del. September 2014) (method of predicting human performance based upon genetic testing invalid under 101 as a law of nature) (report and recommendation from Magistrate Judge to Judge Stark)
- Ex parte Cote (P.T.A.B. August 2014) (computer method and hardware for ‘phase shifting’ design data invalid under 101)
- Ex parte Jung (P.T.A.B. August 2014) (diagnostic method associated with epigenetic risk factors invalid under 101).
Some of the claims invalidated are listed below:
Walker:
1. A method for operating a computer system to facilitate an exchange of identities between two anonymous parties, comprising the steps of:
receiving from a first party first data including an identity of said first party;
receiving from said first party at least two first-party rules for releasing said first data including a rule for releasing said identity of said first party;
receiving from a second party a search request comprising at least one search criterion;
receiving from said second party second data including an identity of said second party;
receiving from said second party at least two second-party rules for releasing said second party data including a rule for releasing said identity of said second party;
processing said search request to determine if said first data satisfies said search criterion; and
if said first data satisfies said search criterion, then
exchanging said first and second data, except said identities of said first and second parties, between said first and second parties in accordance with said first-party and second-party rules,
after said exchanging step, upon satisfying said first-party rule for releasing said identity of said first party, transmitting said identity of said first party to said second party, and
after said exchanging step, upon satisfying said second-party rule for releasing said identity of said second party, transmitting said identity of said second party to said first party.
Genetic Tech:
1. A method to predict potential sprinting, strength, or power performance in a human comprising:
a) analyzing a sample obtained from the human for the presence of one or more genetic variations in a-actinin-3 (ACTN3) gene;
b) detecting the presence of two 577R alleles at the loci encoding amino acid number 577 of the a-actinin-3 (ACTN3) protein; and
c) predicting the potential sprinting, strength, or power performance of the human, wherein the presence of two copies of the 577R allele is positively associated with potential sprinting, strength, or power performance.
Cote:
1. A computer-readable storage device including code segments, to be executed by a computer, relating to a lithographic process technology, the computer-readable medium comprising:
a code segment for receiving a plurality of bins, each bin including a plurality of clusters corresponding to layout data, wherein each cluster represents a plurality of shapes in the layout data, the plurality of shapes having a proximity to each other determined by a grow operation; and
a code segment for phase shifting the plurality of clusters independently of one another.3. A method of using clusters in electronic design automation, the method comprising:
receiving data for a plurality of bins, each bin including a plurality of clusters, each cluster representing a plurality of shapes in an original layout, the plurality of shapes having a proximity to each other determined by a grow operation; and
using a computer, preparing a phase shifting layout for the original layout by phase shifting each of the plurality of clusters independently of one another.7. An electronic design automation program to be executed by a computer and stored on a non-transient computer-readable medium, the electronic design automation program comprising:
a source code segment designed to receive layout data in a bin and cluster format, wherein at least one bin includes a plurality of clusters, each cluster representing a plurality of shapes in the layout data having a predetermined spatial relationship to each other as determined by a grow operation; and
a source code segment designed to phase shift the plurality of clusters independently of one another.
Jung:
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving epigenetic information associated with at least one individual;
calculating, using a microprocessor, a risk utilizing the epigenetic information; and
transferring at least a portion of the risk utilizing the epigenetic information.