On March 6, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) issued an Opinion affirming a final written decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”).  Customedia Techs., LLC v. Dish Network Corp., Case Nos. 2018-2239, 2019-1000, ____ F.3d ____ (Fed. Cir. Mar. 6, 2020).  The CAFC held that the PTAB correctly found that the challenged patent claims were unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because they were directed to patent ineligible subject matter, as interpreted by the Supreme Court’s decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 573 U.S. 208 (2014).

On April 22, 2019, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) made public its Final Written Decision on the patentability of challenged claims in a covered business method patent review (CBM) proceeding.  Fidelity Information Services, LLC v. Mirror Imaging, LLC, CBM Case No. CBM2017-00064 (PTAB Apr. 22, 2019).  The PTAB held the challenged claims were patent ineligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101, consistent with the USPTO’s 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. 50 (Jan. 7, 2019).

On February 13, 2019, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued an opinion vacating covered-business-method review (CBM) decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).  Trading Technologies International, Inc. v. IBG LLC, —F.App’x—, (Fed. Cir. Feb. 13, 2019).  The CAFC ruled that the challenged patents were not eligible for CBM review because they were for “technological inventions.”