Tag Archives: Subject Matter Eligibility

Patent Invalid for Unduly Preempting the Field of “Automatic Lip Synchronization For Computer-Generated 3D Animation Using a Rules-Based Morph Target Approach”

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by Dennis Crouch

McRO (Planet Blue) v. Activision Blizzard, et al. (C.D. Cal. 2014) Decision PDF

In his second major Section 101 decision in as many weeks, Judge Wu (C.D. Cal) has relied upon Alice Corp. (2014) to invalidate all of McRO's asserted patent claims.  The case is quite important because it is one of the first major applications of Alice Corp. to invalidate non-business-method claims.  Here, the invention is directed toward a specific technological problem that had troubled the field of animation - automatically animating lip synchronization and facial expression of animated characters. See U.S. Patent Nos. 6,307,576 (“‘576 Patent”) and 6,611,278 (“‘278 Patent”).  The appeal will be interesting and may serve as one of the Federal Circuit's first opportunities to draw a new line in the sand.

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Federal Circuit: Bingo Gaming Software Improperly Encompasses the “Basic Tools of Scientific and Technological Work”

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by Dennis Crouch

Planet Bingo v. VKGS (Fed. Cir. 2014)

In a non-precedential decision earlier this week, the Federal Circuit found Planet Bingo's patents invalid as lacking eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101.  The court's opinion self-identifies as a "straightforward application of the Supreme Court’s recent holding in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International."

The patent claims a computerized method for managing a game of Bingo - yes, the multi-billion dollar industry of Bingo. The basic idea of the invention is that some folks want to play 'their numbers' each week.  The computerized system lets individuals pre-select their numbers and also helps the Bingo-hall to track sales, verify winners, and avoid tampering.  VKGS and Planet Bingo compete in the marketplace for bingo equipment.

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Data Structure Patent Ineligible

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By Dennis Crouch

Digitech Image v. Electronics for Imaging (Fed. Cir. 2014)

Digitech sued dozens of companies for infringing its U.S. Patent No. 6,128,415. As I wrote back in April 2014, basic idea behind the invention is to tag digital images with particular information about the camera and its color/spatial image qualities in a form that is device-independent. The patent includes claims directed to both a "device profile" and a "method of generating a device profile." The profile is simply a set of data elements regarding the camera qualities discussed above and the method simply involves generating and combining those data elements. This sort of tagging of digital images has become ubiquitous and so the patent could be quite valuable – except that the Federal Circuit has held the patent invalid as lacking subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. §101.

Claim 1 is drafted as follows:

1. A device profile for describing properties of a device in a digital image reproduction system to capture, transform or render an image, said device profile comprising:

first data for describing a device dependent transformation of color information content of the image to a device independent color space; and

second data for describing a device dependent transformation of spatial information content of the image in said device independent color space.

The District Court found the claims invalid and that decision has been affirmed by the Federal Circuit. Decision by Judge Reyna, joined by Judges Moore and Hughes. Because subject matter eligibility is a question of law, the Federal Circuit reviews that issue de novo without giving deference to the district court analysis.

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