CANTOR INDEX, LLCDownload PDFPatent Trials and Appeals BoardMar 3, 202014456113 - (D) (P.T.A.B. Mar. 3, 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. 14/456,113 08/11/2014 Christopher John Davie 04-6187-C3 4103 63710 7590 03/03/2020 INNOVATION DIVISION CANTOR FITZGERALD, L.P. 110 EAST 59TH STREET (6TH FLOOR) NEW YORK, NY 10022 EXAMINER OJIAKU, CHIKAODINAKA ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 3696 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 03/03/2020 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 patentdocketing@cantor.com phowe@cantor.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ____________ BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD ____________ Ex parte CHRISTOPHER JOHN DAVIE and GUY IAIN OLIVER RICHES ____________ Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 Technology Center 3600 ____________ Before KALYAN K. DESHPANDE, CHARLES J. BOUDREAU, and SHARON FENICK, Administrative Patent Judges. BOUDREAU, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 134(a), Appellant1 appeals from the Examiner’s decision to reject claims 28–47, which are all of the pending claims. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We AFFIRM.2 1 We use the word “Appellant” to refer to “applicant” as defined in 37 C.F.R. § 1.42. Appellant identifies Cantor Index, LLC as the real party in interest. Appeal Br. 3. 2 This Decision refers to the Examiner’s Final Office Action mailed April 5, 2018 (“Final Act.”); Appellant’s Appeal Brief filed September 10, 2018 Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 2 CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER Appellant’s invention relates to “a system and a method for wagering in a financial market environment.” Spec. ¶ 2. Claims 28, 43, and 47 are independent. Claim 28, reproduced below, is illustrative of the subject matter on appeal: 28. An apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the at least one processor, direct the at least one processor to: receive a request for wagering information; and generate an electronic command to cause to render a graphic interface screen, to be displayed at a user interface, at least one betting line having a value correlated to a value of a financial indicator that changes over time and that is displayed on the interface screen during a betting session, in which the at least one betting line comprises a first betting line having a value that is equal to a current value of the financial indicator; generate an electronic command to cause to render on the graphic interface screen, to be displayed at a user interface, a first graphic object selectable during the betting session for submitting an up bet request for wagering on the value of the financial indicator achieving a level at a later time that is above the value of the financial indicator at a first time, in which the first graphic object can be selected by a single user multiple different times during the betting session to make a corresponding multiple different wagers on the value of the financial indicator achieving a level at the later time that is above (“Appeal Br.”); the Examiner’s Answer mailed January 4, 2019 (“Ans.”); Appellant’s Reply Brief filed February 28, 2019 (“Reply Br.”); and the original Specification filed August 11, 2014 (“Spec.”). Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 3 respective different values of the financial indicator at a plurality of different times corresponding to the multiple different times; and generate an electronic command to cause to render on the graphic interface screen, to be displayed at the user interface, a second graphic object selectable during the betting session for submitting a down bet request for wagering on the value of the financial indicator achieving a level at the later time that is below the value of the financial indicator at the first time, in which the second graphic object can be selected at a variety of different times during the betting session. Appeal Br. 22–23 (Claims App.). REJECTIONS Claims 28–47 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101 as being directed to non-statutory subject matter. Final Act. 2–16. Claims 28–47 stand rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as being anticipated by Sireau (US 2001/0032169 A1; pub. Oct. 18, 2001). Final Act. 2, 17–24. Claims 28–47 stand rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1–20 of U.S. Patent No. 8,805,732. Final Act. 24–34. OPINION Rejection Under 35 U.S.C. § 101 An invention is patent-eligible if it claims a “new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or [a] new and useful improvement thereof.” 35 U.S.C. § 101. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has long interpreted 35 U.S.C. § 101 to “contain[] an important implicit Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 4 exception: Laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas are not patentable.” Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 573 U.S. 208, 216 (2014) (quoting Ass’n for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., 569 U.S. 576, 589 (2013)). In Alice, the Supreme Court reiterated the two-step framework previously set forth in Mayo Collaborative Servs. v. Prometheus Labs., Inc., 566 U.S. 66, 75–77 (2012), “for distinguishing patents that claim laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas from those that claim patent- eligible applications of those concepts.” Alice, 573 U.S. at 217. The first step in this analysis is to “determine whether the claims at issue are directed to one of those patent-ineligible concepts,” e.g., to an abstract idea. Id. Concepts determined to be abstract ideas include certain methods of organizing human activity, such as fundamental economic practices (id. at 219–20; Bilski v. Kappos, 561 U.S. 593, 611 (2010)); mathematical formulas (Parker v. Flook, 437 U.S. 584, 594–95 (1978)); and mental processes (Gottschalk v. Benson, 409 U.S. 63, 67 (1972)). If it is determined that the claims are directed to a patent-ineligible concept, the second step of the analysis requires consideration of the elements of the claims “individually and ‘as an ordered combination’” to determine whether there are additional elements that “‘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). “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. at 221 (alterations in original) (quoting Mayo, 566 U.S. at 77). In other words, the claims must contain an “inventive concept,” or some element or combination of elements “sufficient Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 5 to ensure that the patent in practice amounts to significantly more than a patent upon the [abstract idea] itself.” Id. at 217–18 (quoting Mayo, 566 U.S. at 72–73). “[M]erely requir[ing] generic computer implementation[] fail[s] to transform that abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention.” Id. at 221. In January 2019, the PTO published revised guidance on the application of § 101. 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. 50 (Jan. 7, 2019) (“Revised Guidance”).3 “All USPTO personnel are, as a matter of internal agency management, expected to follow the guidance.” Id. at 51; see also October 2019 Update at 1. 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 fundamental economic practices, or mental processes) (“Step 2A, Prong 1”); and (2) additional elements that integrate the judicial exception into a practical application (see MPEP §§ 2106.05(a)–(c), (e)–(h) (9th ed. Rev. 08.2017, Jan. 2018)) (“Step 2A, Prong 2”).4 See Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 52–55. 3 In response to received public comments, the Office issued a further memorandum on October 17, 2019, clarifying the Revised Guidance. USPTO, October 2019 Update: Subject Matter Eligibility (“October 2019 Update”) (available at https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ peg_oct_2019_update.pdf). 4 This evaluation is performed by (a) identifying whether there are any additional elements recited in the claim beyond the judicial exception, and (b) evaluating those additional elements individually and in combination to determine whether the claim as a whole integrates the exception into a practical application. See Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 54–55 (Section III.A.2). Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 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, under Step 2B, to whether the claim: (3) adds a specific limitation beyond the judicial exception that is not “well-understood, routine, and 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 Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 56. The Examiner determines that the claims are “directed towards the abstract idea of wagering [in] a financial market environment,” i.e., a fundamental economic practice. Final Act. 3. The Examiner further determines that the claim elements, considered both individually and in combination, do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the abstract idea. Id. at 3, 5. For example, the Examiner finds that the claim limitations “are merely instructions to implement the abstract idea on a computer and require no more than a generic computer to perform generic computer functions that are well- understood, routine and conventional activities previously known to the industry.” Id. at 7. Appellant argues that the claims integrate the abstract idea into a practical application and provide an inventive concept because they are “directed to improvements in a computer system by generating a user interface that includes graphic objects for displaying information and selectable for submitting information which may help reduce the amount of transactions over the network.” Appeal Br. 10 (emphases omitted); see Reply Br. 3, 6. According to Appellant, the claims recite an improved user Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 7 interface comparable to that which was found to be patent-eligible in Core Wireless Licensing S.A.R.L. v. LG Electronics, Inc., 880 F.3d 1356 (Fed. Cir. 2018). Appeal Br. 12–13; Reply Br. 4–5. Appellant further argues that the Examiner does not adequately support the determination that the additional elements are well-understood, routine, and conventional. Appeal Br. 11–12; Reply Br. 6. Finally, Appellant argues that the claims “do not preempt all ways of achieving the intended result because the claimed recitations are very specific and do not cover all possible approaches.” Appeal Br. 14 (emphasis omitted). Step 2A, Prong 1 Viewing the Examiner’s rejection through the lens of the Revised Guidance, we agree with the Examiner that the claims recite a judicial exception, i.e., an abstract idea. See Final Act. 3. Specifically, we agree with the Examiner that the claims recite fundamental economic practices, one of the certain methods of organizing human activity identified in the Revised Guidance as a judicial exception, in the form of wagering. See id. For example, independent claim 28 recites a “betting session,” “submitting an up bet request for wagering on the value of the financial indicator achieving a level at a later time that is above the value of the financial indicator at a first time,” “make a corresponding multiple different wagers on the value of the financial indicator achieving a level at a later time that is above respective different values of the financial indicator at a plurality of different times corresponding to the multiple different times,” and “submitting a down bet request for wagering on the value of the financial market indicator achieving a level at the later time that is below the value of the financial indicator at the first time.” These limitations (as do Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 8 corresponding limitations in independent claims 43 and 47) relate to wagering, which is a fundamental economic practice. Indeed, independent claims 28, 43, and 47 as a whole recite a fundamental economic practice in that the claimed invention is a “system and a method for wagering in a financial market environment.” Spec. ¶ 2. Accordingly, the claims recite one of the certain methods of organizing human activity identified in the Revised Guidance, and, thus, an abstract idea. Step 2A, Prong 2 Because the claims recite an abstract idea, we next look to whether the claims recite additional elements that integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 54. Limitations that are indicative of integration into a practical application include additional elements that reflect an improvement in the functioning of a computer, or an improvement to other technology or technical field. Id. at 55. When a claim recites a judicial exception and fails to integrate the exception into a practical application, the claim is “directed to” the judicial exception. Id. at 51. We determine that the additional limitations recited in the claims on appeal do not integrate the recited judicial exception into a practical application. For example, claim 1 additionally recites “receive a request for wagering information.” This limitation is recited at a high level of generality (i.e., as general means of receiving an input request associated with wagering transactions) and amounts to insignificant pre-solution activity. See Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 55; MPEP § 2106.05(g). Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 9 We agree with the Examiner that the claims otherwise merely recite generic computer components that similarly fail to integrate the recited abstract idea into a practical application. See Final Act. 7, 13, 16; Ans. 6. For example, independent claim 28 recites “at least one processor” and “at least one memory having instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the at least one processor, direct the at least one processor to” perform all of the recited steps. Claim 28 further recites “generate an electronic command to cause to render a graphic interface screen, to be displayed at a user interface.” Claim 28’s recited “processor,” “memory having instructions,” “graphic interface screen,” and “user interface” are recited at a high level of generality, i.e., as generic computer components performing generic functions of computer processing (including generating electronic commands), storing and displaying data, and interfacing with the user. As the Examiner points out, these generic limitations merely apply the abstract idea using generic computer components and indicate a field of use or technological environment (i.e., computer network) for the wagering activity. See Final Act. 7; Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 55; MPEP § 2106.05(f), (h). The claim limitations do not include any particular machine that is integral to the claim. See Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 55; MPEP § 2106.05(b). Appellant argues that the claims are “directed to improvements in a computer system by generating a user interface that includes graphic objects for displaying information and selectable for submitting information which may help reduce the amount of transactions over the network.” Appeal Br. 10 (emphases omitted). According to Appellant, the recited user interface provides advantages over prior art systems, similar to that which Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 10 was patent-eligible in Core Wireless. Appeal Br. 10–13; Reply Br. 3–5 (citing Spec. ¶¶ 49–51). We are unpersuaded by Appellant’s arguments and agree with the Examiner that the claims do not recite a technological improvement in addition to the abstract idea. See Final Act. 6; Ans. 14, 16. As discussed above, the recited “user interface” and “graphic interface screen” are merely generic computer components performing generic functions of displaying data and interfacing with the user. The claims “do not require an arguably inventive set of components or methods, such as measurement devices or techniques, that would generate new data. They do not invoke any assertedly inventive programming.” Elec. Power Grp., LLC v. Alstom S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1355 (Fed. Cir. 2016). Furthermore, as the Examiner points out, Appellant’s argument and the cited portions of the Specification fail to demonstrate how the recited user interface provides a specific improvement over prior art systems, i.e., how it “may help reduce the amount of transactions over the network and reduce computer workload including computer resources such as memory resources, processor resources, and network resources such as network bandwidth.” See Appeal Br. 11; Ans. 14, 16. Thus, the claims do not reflect an improvement in computer functionality or to any other technology or technical field. See Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 55; MPEP § 2106.05(a). Even in combination, the additional limitations do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. Accordingly, we agree with the Examiner that the claims are directed to an abstract idea. Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 11 Step 2B Turning to Step 2B of the Revised Guidance, we agree with the Examiner that there are no specific limitations beyond the judicial exception, i.e., the abstract idea, that are not “well-understood, routine, and conventional” in the field. See Final Act. 7, 11–13, 16; MPEP § 2106.05(d). For example, we agree with the Examiner that the additionally recited “processor,” “memory having instructions,” “graphic interface screen,” and “user interface” (see independent claim 28) are mere recitations of generic computer structures performing generic computer functions that are well-understood, routine, and conventional, and thus do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea. See Final Act. 11–13 (citing Spec. ¶¶ 33, 35, 41, 42). As discussed above, those additional elements amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the abstract idea using generic computer components. Mere instructions to apply an abstract idea on a generic computer do not provide an inventive concept. Alice, 573 U.S. at 223–24. Independent claim 28 additionally recites rendering on the graphic interface screen the following elements: at least one betting line having a value correlated to a value of a financial indicator that changes over time and that is displayed on the interface screen during a betting session, in which the at least one betting line comprises a first betting line having a value that is equal to a current value of the financial indicator; . . . a first graphic object selectable during the betting session for submitting an up bet request . . . in which the first graphic object can be selected by a single user multiple different times during the betting session to make a corresponding multiple different wagers . . . and Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 12 . . . a second graphic object selectable during the betting session for submitting a down bet request . . . in which the second graphic object can be selected at a variety of different times during the betting session. These limitations of rendering a “betting line,” “first graphic object,” and “second graphic object” on the graphic interface screen simply append well-understood, routine, conventional activities previously known to the industry, specified at a high level of generality, to the abstract idea. Although Appellant argues that they include an inventive concept (Reply Br. 6), we find that the limitations merely recite graphic elements displayed at the user interface to facilitate performance of the abstract idea on a computer, i.e., as the Examiner notes, to “[p]rovide an end user an opportunity to submit a wager that is above or below the moving market line at a designated time and monitor[] to determine whether the financial market value was above or below the moving market line at the designated time.” Final Act. 6; see also Spec. ¶ 33 (“User interface 16 is operable to receive and to process requests associated with transactions relating to a wager. . . . Accordingly, user interface 16 may include any suitable hardware, software, personnel, devices, components, elements, or objects that may be utilized or implemented to achieve such operations and functions in a gaming environment.”); Sireau ¶¶ 11–12, 19, 21–22, 50–54, 63 (cited at Final Act. 17–19) (teaching user terminal that accepts user input and is connected to live data feed for betting on a financial market, common bets including “up/down” bets). Appellant argues that the Examiner’s rejection “merely provides conclusory statements” and is not adequately supported in accordance with the Office’s “Berkheimer Memo,” which clarifies that an examiner’s Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 13 conclusion that an element represents well-understood, routine, conventional activity must be based upon a factual determination supported in writing.5 Reply Br. 6; Appeal Br. 11–12. In determining that the additional elements are “computer functions [that] are ‘well understood, routine, conventional activities’ previously known in the industry,” the Examiner cites the Specification. Final Act. 11–13 (citing Spec. ¶¶ 33–35, 37–44). The Specification generally describes and discloses various examples of a processor (¶ 41), memory (¶ 42), and user interface (¶ 33) including a display (¶ 35). We determine that the disclosure of the Specification supports, and we thus find no error in, the Examiner’s determination that the additional elements recited in claims 28–47 are well-understood, routine, and conventional. Reevaluating the extra-solution activity of “receiv[ing] a request for wagering information” (see Revised Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. at 56 (stating that a conclusion under Step 2A that an additional element is insignificant extra-solution activity should be reevaluated in Step 2B)), we find nothing unconventional in this step of receiving an input request associated with wagering transactions. Appellant further argues that the claims “do not preempt all ways of achieving the intended result because the claimed recitations are very specific and do not cover all possible approaches.” Appeal Br. 14 (emphasis omitted). This argument is unavailing, as the absence of complete 5 “Changes in Examination Procedure Pertaining to Subject Matter Eligibility, Recent Subject Matter Eligibility Decision (Berkheimer v. HP, Inc.)” (Apr. 19, 2018), https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ memo-berkheimer-20180419.pdf. Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 14 preemption is not dispositive. See, e.g., Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. v. Sequenom, Inc., 788 F.3d 1371, 1379 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (“While preemption may signal patent ineligible subject matter, the absence of complete preemption does not demonstrate patent eligibility.”); Ultramercial, Inc. v. Hulu, LLC, 722 F.3d 1335, 1346 (Fed. Cir. 2013) (“[T]he Supreme Court has stated that, even if a claim does not wholly pre-empt an abstract idea, it still will not be limited meaningfully if it contains only insignificant or token pre- or post-solution activity—such as identifying a relevant audience, a category of use, field of use, or technological environment.”) (citations omitted), vacated and remanded, WildTangent, Inc. v. Ultramercial, LLC, 573 U.S. 942 (2014) (remanding for further consideration in light of Alice). Thus, even if the claims do not preempt the abstract idea, that alone is insufficient to render the claims patent-eligible. Appellant has not shown that the claims on appeal add any specific limitation beyond the judicial exception that is not well-understood, routine, and conventional in the field. Appellant also provides no evidence of how the ordered combination is unconventional or amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea to which the claims are otherwise directed. Accordingly, considering the claim elements individually and as an ordered combination, we agree with the Examiner that there are no meaningful claim limitations that represent sufficiently inventive concepts to transform the nature of the claims into a patent-eligible application of the abstract idea. For the foregoing reasons, we sustain the Examiner’s rejection of claims 28–47 under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 15 Rejection Under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) The Examiner maps the disclosure of Sireau to each limitation of claims 28–47. Final Act. 17–24. With respect specifically to the steps of generating electronic commands to cause to render “a first graphic object selectable during the betting session for submitting an up bet request . . .” and “a second graphic object selectable during the betting session for submitting a down bet request . . .” of independent claims 28, 43, and 47, the Examiner cites paragraphs 50–59, 63–64, 73, and 92 of Sireau. Id. at 18–21, 24. Addressing independent claims 28, 43, and 47, Appellant quotes paragraphs 50–54 of Sireau and argues that “the cited portions of Sireau . . . do[] not describe processing of up bet requests and down bet requests.” Appeal Br. 15–17 (emphases omitted). As explained above, however, the Examiner also cites, inter alia, paragraph 63 of Sireau, which teaches that common bets that might be placed in the betting system include “an ‘up/down’ bet that a given market will be above or below a given level on a given date,” as evidence of Sireau’s disclosure of the contested elements. See, e.g., Final Act. 18–19. Appellant does not address the disclosure of paragraph 63 of Sireau, either in the Appeal Brief or in the Reply Brief. We review the appealed rejections for error based upon the issues identified by Appellant and in light of the produced arguments and evidence. Ex parte Frye, 94 USPQ2d 1072, 1075 (BPAI 2010) (precedential). In the absence of argument with respect to the disclosure of paragraph 63 of Sireau cited in the Final Action, we are not persuaded of error in the Examiner’s rejection. See id. at 1075–76 (explaining that if Appellants fail “to present arguments on a particular issue—or, more broadly, on a particular rejection—the Board will Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 16 not, as a general matter, unilaterally review those uncontested aspects of the rejection”). Accordingly, we sustain the Examiner’s rejection of independent claims 28, 43, and 47, as well as dependent claims 29–42 and 44–46 not separately argued by Appellant, under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as being anticipated by Sireau. Double Patenting Rejection Appellant argues that the Examiner’s nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting rejection is improper because it is not supported by any analysis consistent with MPEP § 804(II)(B). Appeal Br. 19–20. Specifically, Appellant argues that the Examiner fails to compare or show any correspondence between the limitations of the claims on appeal and those of the reference patent and that the Examiner also fails to perform the factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1 (1966). Id. Appellant’s argument is persuasive, as the extent of the Examiner’s rejection is to state that the claims on appeal “substantially recite[]” the claim limitations of the reference patent and that “[t]he subject matter claimed in the instant application is fully disclosed in the referenced patent and would be covered by the patent granted since the referenced patent and the instant application are claiming common subject matter.” Final Act. 25. The Examiner merely reproduces the claims on appeal and those of the reference patent without presenting any mapping between their respective claim limitations. Id. at 26–34. This is insufficient to establish a prima facie case. Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 17 Accordingly, we do not sustain the Examiner’s nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting rejection of claims 28–47. CONCLUSION We affirm the Examiner’s rejection of claims 28–47 under 35 U.S.C. § 101. We affirm the Examiner’s rejection of claims 28–47 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b). We reverse the Examiner’s nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting rejection of claims 28–47. Because we have affirmed at least one ground of rejection with respect to each claim on appeal, the Examiner’s rejection of claims 28–47 is affirmed. See 37 C.F.R. § 41.50(a)(1). DECISION SUMMARY In summary: Claims Rejected 35 U.S.C. § Reference(s)/Basis Affirmed Reversed 28–47 101 Eligibility 28–47 28–47 102(b) Sireau 28–47 28–47 Nonstatutory Obviousness-type Double Patenting 28–47 Overall Outcome 28–47 Appeal 2019-002850 Application 14/456,113 18 TIME PERIOD FOR RESPONSE No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a)(1)(iv). AFFIRMED Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation