Philip Myron. GinsbergDownload PDFPatent Trials and Appeals BoardAug 4, 20202018008799 (P.T.A.B. Aug. 4, 2020) Copy Citation UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www.uspto.gov APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 14/330,601 07/14/2014 Philip Myron Ginsberg 06-1127-C1 9126 63710 7590 08/04/2020 INNOVATION DIVISION CANTOR FITZGERALD, L.P. 110 EAST 59TH STREET (6TH FLOOR) NEW YORK, NY 10022 EXAMINER OYEBISI, OJO O ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 3697 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 08/04/2020 ELECTRONIC Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the following e-mail address(es): lkorovich@cantor.com mcatarino@cgolaw.com patentdocketing@cantor.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ____________________ BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD ____________________ Ex parte PHILIP MYRON GINSBERG ____________________ Appeal 2018-008799 Application 14/330,6011 Technology Center 3600 ____________________ Before: ST. JOHN COURTENAY III, MARC S. HOFF and LINZY T. McCARTNEY, Administrative Patent Judges. HOFF, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from the Examiner’s Final rejection of claims 1–3, 5–9, 11–17, and 22–32.2 We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We AFFIRM. Appellants’ invention concerns trade in an object of commerce. A computed tradeable price for the object of commerce is calculated by a computer in conformance to a standard published to traders. The standard specifies rules for calculating the tradeable price based on orders received or 1 Appellant states that CFPH, LLC is the real party in interest. Appeal Br. 3. 2 Claims 4, 10, and 18–21 have been cancelled. Appeal 2018-008799 Application 14/330,601 2 trades executed in the market. Based at least in part on the computed tradeable price, trades are executed or negotiated for the object of commerce. Abstract. Claim 1 is reproduced below: 1. A method, comprising the steps of: receiving, by at least one computer processor via an electronic network, a plurality of bids and a plurality of offers from traders in a market for an object of commerce, each bid and offer including a price; determining, by at least one computer processor, that at least some of the received bids and offers are not fully executed; in response to determining that at least some of the received bids and offers are not fully executed, calculating, by at least one computer processor, a tradable price based on a standard published to traders in the market for the object of commerce, the standard specifying rules for calculating a tradeable price based on at least one of a) received bids and offers and b) trades executed in the market for the object of commerce; transmitting, by at least one processor of at least one computer, to each of a plurality of computers of respective traders in the market via an electronic communications network, an electronic message notifying the traders of the calculated tradeable price for the object of commerce; and executing or negotiating trades, or receiving negotiating offers, by at least one computer processor, for at least some of the unexecuted bids and offers, based at least in part on the calculated tradeable price, wherein at least some quantity of the object of commerce is traded at the calculated tradeable price. Appeal Br. 10 (Claims App.). Appeal 2018-008799 Application 14/330,601 3 Claims 1–3, 5–9, 11–17, and 22–32 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101 as being directed to patent-ineligible subject matter. Non-Final Act. 3. Throughout this decision, we make reference to the Appeal Brief, filed Apr. 3, 2018 (“Appeal Br.”) and the Examiner’s Answer mailed July 13, 2018 (“Ans.”) for their respective details. ISSUES 1. Does the claimed invention recite an abstract idea? 2. Is the recited abstract idea integrated into a practical application? 3. Do the claims recite additional elements that transform the nature of the claims into a patent-eligible application of an abstract idea? PRINCIPLES OF LAW An invention is patent-eligible if it claims a “new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter.” 35 U.S.C. § 101. However, the Supreme Court has long interpreted 35 U.S.C. § 101 to include implicit exceptions: “[l]aws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas” are not patentable. See, e.g., Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 573 U.S. 208, 216 (2014). In determining whether a claim falls within an excluded category, we are guided by the Supreme Court’s two-step framework, described in Mayo and Alice. Id. at 217–18 (citing Mayo Collaborative Servs. v. Prometheus Labs., Inc., 566 U.S. 66, 75–77 (2012)). In accordance with that framework, we first determine what concept the claim is “directed to.” See Alice, 573 U.S. at 219 (“On their face, the claims before us are drawn to the concept of intermediated settlement, i.e., the use of a third Appeal 2018-008799 Application 14/330,601 4 party to mitigate settlement risk.”); see also Bilski v. Kappos, 561 U.S. 593, 611 (2010) (“Claims 1 and 4 in petitioners’ application explain the basic concept of hedging, or protecting against risk.”). Concepts determined to be abstract ideas, and thus patent ineligible, include certain methods of organizing human activity, such as fundamental economic practices (Alice, 573 U.S. at 219–20; Bilski, 561 U.S. at 611); mathematical formulas (Parker v. Flook, 437 U.S. 584, 594–95 (1978)); and mental processes (Gottschalk v. Benson, 409 U.S. 63, 69 (1972)). Concepts determined to be patent eligible include physical and chemical processes, such as “molding rubber products” (Diamond v. Diehr, 450 U.S. 175, 192 (1981)); and “tanning, dyeing, making waterproof cloth, vulcanizing India rubber, smelting ores” (184 n.7 (quoting Corning v. Burden, 56 U.S. 252, 267–68 (1853))); and manufacturing flour (Benson, 409 U.S. at 69 (citing Cochrane v. Deener, 94 U.S. 780, 785 (1876))). In Diehr, the claim at issue recited a mathematical formula, but the Supreme Court held that “[a] claim drawn to subject matter otherwise statutory does not become nonstatutory simply because it uses a mathematical formula.” Diehr, 450 at 176, 192 (“We view respondents’ claims as nothing more than a process for molding rubber products and not as an attempt to patent a mathematical formula.”). Having said that, the Supreme Court also indicated that a claim “seeking patent protection for that formula in the abstract . . . . is not accorded the protection of our patent laws,[] and this principle cannot be circumvented by attempting to limit the use of the formula to a particular technological environment.” Id. at 187 (“It is now commonplace that an application of a law of nature or Appeal 2018-008799 Application 14/330,601 5 mathematical formula to a known structure or process may well be deserving of patent protection.”), and 191 (citing Benson and Flook). If the claim is “directed to” an abstract idea, we turn to the second step of the Alice and Mayo framework, where “we must examine the elements of the claim to determine whether it contains an ‘inventive concept’ sufficient to ‘transform’ the claimed abstract idea into a patent- eligible application.” Alice, 573 U.S. at 221. “A claim that recites an abstract idea must include ‘additional features’ to ensure ‘that the [claim] is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the [abstract idea].’” Id. (quoting Mayo, 566 U.S. at 77). “[M]erely requir[ing] generic computer implementation[] fail[s] to transform that abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention.” Id. The PTO recently published revised guidance on the application of § 101. USPTO’s January 7, 2019 Memorandum, 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance (“Memorandum”). Memorandum, 84 Fed. Reg. 50. Under that guidance, we first look to whether the claim recites: (1) any judicial exceptions, including certain groupings of abstract ideas (i.e., mathematical concepts, certain methods of organizing human activity such as a fundamental economic practice, or mental processes); and (2) additional elements that integrate the judicial exception into a practical application (see MPEP § 2106.05(a)–(c), (e)–(h)). Appeal 2018-008799 Application 14/330,601 6 Only if a claim (1) recites a judicial exception and (2) does not integrate that exception into a practical application, do we then look to whether the claim: (3) adds a specific limitation beyond the judicial exception that are not “well-understood, routine, conventional” in the field (see MPEP § 2106.05(d)); or (4) simply appends well-understood, routine, conventional activities previously known to the industry, specified at a high level of generality, to the judicial exception. See generally Memorandum ANALYSIS SECTION 101 REJECTION Appellant argues the claims under appeal as a group. Accordingly we select claim 1 as representative of all the claims. Claim 1 recites the following limitations. Aspects of the claimed abstract idea are indicated in italics. Additional non-abstract limitations are noted in bold: 1. (previously presented) A method, comprising the steps of: (a) receiving, by at least one computer processor via an electronic network, a plurality of bids and a plurality of offers from traders in a market for an object of commerce, each bid and offer including a price; (b) determining, by at least one computer processor, that at least some of the received bids and offers are not fully executed; in response to determining that at least some of the received bids and offers are not fully executed, (c) calculating, by at least one computer Appeal 2018-008799 Application 14/330,601 7 processor, a tradeable price based on a standard published to traders in the market for the object of commerce, the standard specifying rules for calculating a tradeable price based on at least one of a) received bids and offers and b) trades executed in the market for the object of commerce; (d) transmitting, by at least one processor of at least one computer, to each of a plurality of computers of respective traders in the market via an electronic communications network, an electronic message notifying the traders of the calculated tradeable price for the object of commerce; and (e) executing or negotiating trades, or receiving negotiating offers, by at least one computer processor, for at least some of the unexecuted bids and offers, based at least in part on the calculated tradeable price, wherein at least some quantity of the object of commerce is traded at the calculated tradeable price. These limitations, under the broadest reasonable interpretation, constitute a plurality of steps to receive bids and offers for a tradeable object of commerce, calculate a tradeable price for the object of commerce even if some of the received bids and offers are not fully executed, transmit that tradeable price to traders in the market, and execute trades based on the tradeable price. We determine that limitation (a), receiving a plurality of bids and a plurality of offers, constitutes data-gathering activity. We determine that limitation (d) constitutes extra-solution activity: transmitting the calculated tradeable price to traders in the market. The Memorandum recognizes that certain groupings of subject matter have been found by the courts to constitute judicially excepted abstract Appeal 2018-008799 Application 14/330,601 8 ideas: (a) mathematical concepts; (b) certain methods of organizing human activity; and (c) mental processes. Memorandum, 84 Fed. Reg. 52. Examples of “certain methods of organizing human activity” include “fundamental economic principles or practices (including hedging, insurance, mitigating risk); commercial or legal interactions (including agreements in the form of contracts; legal obligations; advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors; business relations); managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions). Memorandum, 84 Fed. Reg. 52. We determine, that the claim 1 limitations of (b) determining that at least some of the received bids and offers are not fully executed; (c) calculating, by at least one computer processor, a tradeable price based on a standard published to traders in the market for the object of commerce; and (e) executing or negotiating trades, or receiving negotiating offers, by at least one computer processor, for at least some of the unexecuted bids and offers, based at least in part on the calculated tradeable price, recite an abstract idea that falls into the subcategory of a fundamental economic practice, i.e., of determining a tradeable price for an object of commerce, and executing or negotiating trades of the object of commerce based on the calculated tradeable price.3 See Final Act. 3. 3 See Alice, 573 U.S. at 219–20 (concluding that use of a third party to mediate settlement risk is a “fundamental economic practice” and thus an abstract idea) (Describing the concept of risk hedging identified as an abstract idea in Bilski as “a method of organizing human activity.”); see also Bilski,561 U.S. at 611–612 (concluding that hedging is a “fundamental economic practice” and therefore an abstract idea); Bancorp, 687 F.3d at 1280 (concluding that “managing a stable value protected life insurance policy by performing calculations and manipulating the results” is an Appeal 2018-008799 Application 14/330,601 9 We are not persuaded by Appellant’s argument that the Examiner has cited no cases with reference to an abstract idea, or has unlawfully abstract idea); Inventor Holdings, LLC v. Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc., 876 F.3d 1372, 1378–79 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (Holding that concept of “local processing of payments for remotely purchased goods” is a “fundamental economic practice, which Alice made clear is, without more, outside the patent system.”); OIP Techs., Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1362–63 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (Concluding that claimed concept of “offer-based price optimization” is an abstract idea “similar to other ‘fundamental economic concepts’ found to be abstract ideas by the Supreme Court and this court.”); buySAFE, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 765 F.3d. 1350, 1355 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (holding that concept of “creating a contractual relationship—a ‘transaction performance guaranty’” is an abstract idea); In re Comiskey, 554 F.3d 967, 981 (Fed. Cir. 2009) (claims directed to “resolving a legal dispute between two parties by the decision of a human arbitrator” are ineligible); Ultramercial, Inc. v. Hulu, LLC, 772 F.3d 709, 715 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (holding that claim “describ[ing] only the abstract idea of showing an advertisement before delivering free content” is patent ineligible); In re Ferguson, 558 F.3d 1359, 1364 (Fed. Cir. 2009) (holding methods “directed to organizing business or legal relationships in the structuring of a sales force (or marketing company)” to be ineligible); Credit Acceptance Corp. v. Westlake Servs., 859 F.3d 1044, 1054 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (“The Board determined that the claims are directed to the abstract idea of ‘processing an application for financing a purchase’ . . . We agree.”); Interval Licensing LLC, v. AOL, Inc., 896 F.3d 1335, 1344–45 (Fed. Cir. 2018) (Concluding that “[s]tanding alone, the act of providing someone an additional set of information without disrupting the ongoing provision of an initial set of information is an abstract idea,” observing that the district court “pointed to the nontechnical human activity of passing a note to a person who is in the middle of a meeting or conversation as further illustrating the basic, longstanding practice that is the focus of the [patent ineligible] claimed invention.”); Voter Verified, Inc. v. Election Sys. & Software, LLC, 887 F.3d 1376, 1385 (Fed. Cir. 2018) (finding the concept of “voting, verifying the vote, and submitting the vote for tabulation,” a “fundamental activity” that humans have performed for hundreds of years, to be an abstract idea); and In re Smith, 815 F.3d 816, 818 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (concluding that “[a]pplicants’ claims, directed to rules for conducting a wagering game” are abstract). Appeal 2018-008799 Application 14/330,601 10 oversimplified the claim in saying that the claim recites “negotiating and executing trades.” Appeal Br. 7. As stated supra, we agree with the Examiner’s determination that the claimed invention recites a judicial exception, i.e., an abstract idea, when it recites the determination of a tradeable price for an object in commerce, and the execution and negotiation of trades of that object of commerce based on that tradeable price. We agree with the Examiner that just as the mediation of settlement risk was determined to be a fundamental economic practice in Alice, and just as the formulation and trading of risk management contracts was deemed to constitute a fundamental economic practice in Alice, so too do we deem the calculation of a tradeable price for an object in commerce, and the execution and negotiation of trades for that object, to similarly constitute a fundamental economic practice. Accordingly, we conclude that the claims recite a fundamental economic practice, one of the categories of abstract ideas recognized in the Memorandum. Memorandum, 84 Fed. Reg. 52. We thus conclude that the claims recite an abstract idea. INTEGRATED INTO A PRACTICAL APPLICATION We next evaluate whether the claims integrate the identified abstract idea of determining a tradeable price for an object of commerce, and negotiating and executing trades concerning that object, into a practical application. See Memorandum, 84 Fed. Reg. 51. We consider whether there are any additional elements beyond the abstract ideas that, individually or in combination, “integrate the [abstract ideas] into a practical application, using Appeal 2018-008799 Application 14/330,601 11 one or more of the considerations laid out by the Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit.” Id. at 54–55. The Memorandum provides exemplary considerations that are indicative that an additional element may have integrated the exception (i.e., the abstract idea recited in the claim) into a practical application: (i) an improvement to the functioning of a computer; (ii) an improvement to another technology or technical field; (iii) an application of the abstract idea with, or by use of, a particular machine; (iv) a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing; or (v) other meaningful limitations beyond generally linking the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment. See Memorandum, 84 Fed. Reg. 55; see also MPEP §§ 2106.05(a)–(c), (e)– (h). As noted supra, we note that the claims recite the additional elements of a computer having at least one processor, an electronic network (or electronic communications network), a market, and an object of commerce. “Computer” is disclosed to be “appropriately programmed general purpose computers, special purpose computers and computing devices.” Spec. 9–10. A processor is described as “one or more microprocessors, one or more microcontrollers, [or] one or more digital signal processors.” Spec. 10. Further examples of “processors” are listed: “microprocessors, central processing units (CPUs), computing devices, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, or like devices or any combination thereof.” Id. We determine Appeal 2018-008799 Application 14/330,601 12 that Appellant does not disclose “computer” or “processor” as being a non- generic element. With respect to the term “electronic network” or “electronic communications network,” Appellant discloses that “the computer may communicate with the devices directly or indirectly, via any wired or wireless medium (e.g. the Internet, LAN, WAN or Ethernet, Token Ring, a telephone line, a cable line, a radio channel, an optical communications line, commercial on-line service providers, bulletin board systems, [or] a satellite communications link.” Spec. 12. “Communications channels may be secure, encrypted, or clear.” Spec. 18. We find that Appellant has not disclosed an electronic network or electronic communications network as a non-generic element. Appellant does not provide a definition for the term “market” in the Specification. We thus construe the claim term “market” in a known, generic manner, to a physical or virtual “place” where potential buyers and sellers of objects of commerce may communicate in order to trade in such objects. With respect to the claim term “object of commerce,” Appellant gives examples of items that may be bought or sold: “goods or services, such as financial instruments, commodities, or any other object of commerce.” Spec. 17. Appellant does not define an “object of commerce” as something other than a generic element. Turning to the Memorandum’s considerations for integration of an abstract idea into a practical application, Appellant makes no argument that the claimed invention improves the functioning of a computer; provides an improvement to another technology or technical field; applies the claimed abstract idea with, or by use of, a Appeal 2018-008799 Application 14/330,601 13 particular machine; or transforms or reduces a particular article to a different state or thing. Appellant contends that the claims “include numerous meaningful limitations that are ignored by” the characterization of the claims as reciting an abstract idea. Appeal Br. 7. As Appellant fails to identify specifically any such “meaningful limitations,” we are not persuaded by Appellant’s contention. Appellant cites BASCOM in support but does not explain what non- conventional and non-generic arrangement of conventional pieces is present in the claimed invention.4 Appeal Br. 8. We agree with the Examiner that whereas BASCOM concerned a specific asserted improvement, and a technological solution to a technological problem, the instant invention is merely the adaptation of an economic problem, i.e. determining an appropriate tradeable price for an object of commerce, to implementation on a computer. Ans. 5. Appellant next argues, citing Trading Technologies, that a trading system implemented on a general purpose computer (should be found to be) patent eligible.5 Appeal Br. 8. Appellant’s argument is not persuasive because the court’s holding was not simply that trading systems implemented on a computer are patent-eligible. Rather, the court found that the claimed system used “a software-implemented programmatic net” that improved “the accuracy of trader transactions.” The claimed subject matter 4 BASCOM Global Internet Services, Inc. v. AT&T Mobility LLC, 827 F.3d 1341 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (hereinafter “BASCOM”). 5 Trading Technologies Int’l Inc. v. CQG Inc., 675 Fed.Appx. 1001 (Fed. Cir. 2016), (nonprecedential) (hereinafter “Trading Technologies”). Appeal 2018-008799 Application 14/330,601 14 is “directed to a specific improvement in the way computers operate,”[] for the claimed graphical user interface method imparts a specific functionality to a trading system ‘directed to a specific implementation of a solution to a problem in the software arts.’” Trading Technologies, 675 Fed.Appx. at 1006. The claims under appeal are directed to the solution of a problem in the economic arts, adapted to performance on a generically disclosed computer. Appellant argues that a claim not rejected under 35 U.S.C. §§ 102 or 103 should necessarily be patent eligible. Appeal Br. 8. We are not persuaded by Appellant’s argument. The question of patent eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101 is separate and distinct from the determination of patentability over prior art under 35 U.S.C. §§ 102 and 103. See Intellectual Ventures I LLC v. Symantec Corp., 838 F.3d 1307, 1315 (Fed. Cir. 2016). We conclude that the claims do not recite additional elements that integrate the recited abstract idea of analyzing a closure code to identify common order defects into a practical application under the considerations laid out by the Supreme Court and the Federal Circuit. INVENTIVE CONCEPT Last, we consider whether claims 1–3, 5–9, 11–17, and 22–32 express an inventive concept, i.e., whether any additional claim elements “‘transform the nature of the claim’ into a patent-eligible application.” Alice, 573 U.S. at 217 (quoting Mayo, 566 U.S. at 78, 79). This requires us to evaluate whether the additional claim elements add “a specific limitation or combination of limitations that are not well-understood, routine, and conventional activity in the field” or “simply append[] well-understood, routine, conventional Appeal 2018-008799 Application 14/330,601 15 activities previously known to the industry, specified at a high level of generality.” Memorandum, 84 Fed. Reg. 50, 56. “The question of whether a claim element or combination of elements is well-understood, routine, and conventional to a skilled artisan in the relevant field is a question of fact.” Berkheimer v. HP Inc., 881 F.3d 1360, 1368 (Fed. Cir. 2018). As noted supra, we note that the claims recite the additional elements of a computer having at least one processor, an electronic network (or electronic communications network), a market, and an object of commerce. As discussed supra, we find that Appellants’ Specification does not define these terms in other than generic fashion. We determine, then, that Appellants’ disclosure of “computer,” “processor,” “electronic communications network,” “market,” and “object of commerce” are similarly well-understood, routine, and conventional. Regarding the use of the recited generic computer components identified – i.e., “processor,” “computer,” “electronic network” — the Supreme Court has held that “the mere recitation of a generic computer cannot transform a patent-ineligible abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention.” Alice, 573 U.S. at 223. Our reviewing court provides additional guidance: See FairWarning IP v. Iatric Sys., Inc., 839 F.3d 1089, 1096 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (“[T]he use of generic computer elements like a microprocessor or user interface do not alone transform an otherwise abstract idea into patent-eligible subject matter.”); see also OIP Techs, 788 F.3d at 1363 (Claims reciting, inter alia, sending messages over a network, gathering statistics, using a computerized system to automatically determine an estimated outcome, and presenting offers to potential customers found to Appeal 2018-008799 Application 14/330,601 16 merely recite “‘well-understood, routine conventional activit[ies],’ either by requiring conventional computer activities or routine data-gathering steps.”). We determine from Appellants’ cursory disclosure of these elements that the claimed computer, processor, and electronic network should be considered generic computer components. As such, they cannot transform the recited patent-ineligible abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention. Appellants have presented no argument contesting the Examiner’s characterization of any additional claim element as well-understood, routine, and conventional. Appellants have not contended that the Examiner lacked factual support for any finding that a claim element is well-understood, routine, and conventional. As a result, we determine that none of the claim elements, additional to those limitations we determined to constitute a mental process, recite a limitation or combination of limitations that are not well-understood, routine, and conventional activity in the field of trade in objects of commerce. SUBJECT MATTER ELIGIBILITY - CONCLUSION We conclude that the claims recite a fundamental economic process, one of the categories of invention found by the courts to constitute an abstract idea. We further conclude that the claims do not integrate the identified abstract idea into a practical application. We further conclude that the claimed invention does not recite additional claim elements that transform the nature of the claim into a patent-eligible application of an abstract idea. Appeal 2018-008799 Application 14/330,601 17 Accordingly, we sustain the Examiner’s 35 U.S.C. § 101 rejection of claims 1–3, 5–9, 11–17, and 22–32. DECISION 1. The claimed invention recites an abstract idea. 2. The recited abstract idea is not integrated into a practical application. 3. The claims do not recite additional elements that transform the nature of the claims into a patent-eligible application of an abstract idea. The Examiner’s decision to reject claims 1-3, 5-9, 11-17, and 22- 32under 35 U.S.C. § 101 is affirmed. CONCLUSION In summary: Claims Rejected 35 U.S.C. § Reference(s)/ Basis Affirmed Reversed 1–3, 5–9, 11– 17, 22–32 101 Eligibility 1–3, 5–9, 11–17, 22– 32 Overall Outcome 1–3, 5–9, 11–17, 22– 32 No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a). See 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a)(1)(iv). AFFIRMED Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation