Internet Patents Corporation v. Active Network, Inc.
790 F.3d 1343
| Fed. Cir. | 2015Background
- IPC sued four defendants for infringing U.S. Patent No. 7,707,505; district court held the patent ineligible under §101.
- The patent claims an intelligent user interface that maintains state across dynamically generated online form sets using Back/Forward navigation.
- The district court described the core idea as the abstract concept of retaining information during online form navigation.
- IPC argued the claims include an inventive concept via maintaining state, icons as hyperlinks, and Back/Forward use.
- Court applies Mayo/Alice two-step framework and holds claims directed to an abstract idea with no inventive concept; dependent claims likewise fail; district court’s judgment affirmed.
Issues
| Issue | Plaintiff's Argument | Defendant's Argument | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Is claim 1 directed to an abstract idea? | IPC asserts maintaining state is non-abstract improvement. | The court found the idea abstract as an information-retention concept. | Yes, abstract idea. |
| Do the claims contain an inventive concept? | Maintaining state and UI elements provide an inventive concept. | No inventive concept; conventional steps amount to abstraction. | No inventive concept. |
| Do dependent claims add any patent-eligible limitations? | Dependent claims reinforce the inventive concept. | Dependent claims merely recite generic data-collection steps. | No, not patent-eligible. |
Key Cases Cited
- Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int'l, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (Supreme Court, 2014) (two-step framework for abstract ideas; inventive concept required)
- Mayo Collaborative Servs. v. Prometheus Labs., Inc., 132 S. Ct. 1294 (Supreme Court, 2012) (inventive concept test; abstract ideas lack transformative elements)
- Bilski v. Kappos, 561 U.S. 593 (Supreme Court, 2010) (barred abstract idea of hedging as non-promo inventive concept)
- CyberSource Corp. v. Retail Decisions, Inc., 654 F.3d 1366 (Fed. Cir., 2011) (preempted abstract idea; mere computer implementation not enough)
- Bancorp Servs., L.L.C. v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada, 687 F.3d 1266 (Fed. Cir., 2012) (claim construction not prerequisite to §101; determine basic character of claimed subject matter)