The decision in Ultramercial, LLC v. Hulu, LLC, Case No. 10-1544 has been closely monitored since it was remanded by the Supreme Court. Prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in Alice Corp., the Federal Circuit had twice previously found that the claims at issue were patent eligible. The Supreme Court first vacated and remanded the Federal Circuit’s finding of validity in light of its Mayo v. Prometheus holding. On remand the Federal Circuit again found the claims valid. Subsequently, the Supreme Court remanded the case for reconsideration in view of its Alice Corp. holding. Now, on remand, the Federal Circuit determined that based on the precedent established by the Supreme Court in Alice Corp., the claims at issue were in fact patent ineligible. Therefore, the Federal Circuit upheld the district court’s dismissal of the case.
The claims at issue were directed to a method of providing copyrighted works over the internet in exchange for viewing advertising. In applying the test of Alice Corp., the Federal Circuit found that the claims were directed to an abstract idea and that the claims did not do significantly more than describe the abstract idea. The court used the machine or transformation test when evaluating whether the claims did significantly more to overcome the abstract idea. In conclusion it found that the invention was not tied to a novel machine, nor did it transform an article to a different state or thing.
source: Maier & Maier, PLLC
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