Todd Telle et al.Download PDFPatent Trials and Appeals BoardAug 22, 201914086286 - (D) (P.T.A.B. Aug. 22, 2019) 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. 14/086,286 11/21/2013 Todd Telle 21652-00294 4516 75564 7590 08/22/2019 DANIEL M. FITZGERALD (21652) ARMSTRONG TEASDALE LLP 7700 Forsyth Boulevard Suite 1800 St. Louis, MO 63105 EXAMINER STERRETT, JONATHAN G ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 3623 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 08/22/2019 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): USpatents@armstrongteasdale.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ____________ BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD ____________ Ex parte TODD TELLE, MARK CLEMENT KWAPISZESKI, and STEPHANIE MICHELLE DICKINSON ____________ Appeal 2018-002214 Application 14/086,2861 Technology Center 3600 ____________ Before ANTON W. FETTING, JOSEPH A. FISCHETTI, and BRUCE T. WIEDER, Administrative Patent Judges. WIEDER, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL This is a decision on appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from the Examiner’s final rejection of claims 1, 4–10, 13–19, and 22–24. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We AFFIRM. 1 According to Appellants, the real party in interest is MasterCard International Incorporated. (Appeal Br. 1.) Appeal 2018-002214 Application 14/086,286 2 CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER Appellants’ invention “relate[s] generally to asset evaluation and, more particularly, to methods and systems for evaluating technology assets including receiving data related to a technology asset and generating a technology evaluation of the technology asset.” (Spec. ¶ 2.) Claims 1, 10, and 19 are the independent claims on appeal. Claim 1 is illustrative. It recites: 1. A technology evaluation measurement (TEM) computer device for evaluating a technology asset included in a technology platform of an entity so that a contribution of the technology asset to an overall efficiency of the technology platform is determined, said TEM computer device comprising: a processor in communication with a memory, said TEM computer device programmed to: initiate an application program interface (API) call to poll at least one external data source for information; in response to initiating the API call, automatically receive a first data feed in a computer readable data format from the at least one external data source; generate a first data set by processing the first data feed, the first data set including data related to a first technology asset; receive technology maturity evaluation (TME) data from a TME computer device in communication with said TEM computer device, the TME data including response data from questions posed to a plurality of subject matter experts, the response data associated with the first technology asset; incorporate the TME data into the first data set; determine at least one evaluation function and at least one categorization function to apply to the first data set, wherein the at least one categorization function is configured to determine a context of the first technology asset, and wherein the at least one evaluation function is configured to determine a quantitative evaluation of the first technology asset based on the first data set and the context of the first technology asset; Appeal 2018-002214 Application 14/086,286 3 process the first data set using the at least one evaluation function and the at least one categorization function to generate a second data set, wherein the second data set includes data related to a technological evaluation of the first technology asset; generate, based on the technological evaluation of the first technology asset, using at least one visualization tool API, an evaluation output, wherein the evaluation output includes a resource capacity output that includes a scored capacity rating for the first technology asset and a business value for the first technology asset; and generate, based on the evaluation output, an interactive graphical display on a user interface, the interactive graphical display including a first graphical scale representing a capacity of the first technology asset, a second graphical scale representing business value of the first technology asset, an icon representing the first technology asset, and a plurality of additional icons representing additional technology assets, wherein a position of the icon representing the first technology asset is determined by the scored capacity rating and the business value for the first technology asset. REJECTIONS Claims 1, 10, and 19 are provisionally rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 11, and 20 of U.S. Patent Application No. 13,570,090 (the ’090 application). Claims 1, 4–10, 13–19, and 22–24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101 as directed to a judicial exception without significantly more. Claims 1, 4–10, 13–19, and 22–24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Bob Donath, ISBM Nuggets: New Product Development Consortium – Portfolio Management, ISBM New Product Development Consortium (March 19, 2001) (hereinafter “Donath”); Davies Appeal 2018-002214 Application 14/086,286 4 (US 2003/0033191 A1, pub. Feb. 13, 2003); W.F. Cody et al., The integration of business intelligence and knowledge management, 41 IBM Sys. J., 697 (2002) (hereinafter “Cody”); Emden R. Gansner & Stephen C. North, An open graph visualization system and its applications to software engineering, Software–Practice and Experience (1999) (hereinafter “Gansner”). The double patenting rejection The Examiner rejects claims 1, 10, and 19 “on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 11 and 20 of U.S. Patent Application No. 13/570,090” (the ’090 application). (Final Action 6 (emphasis omitted).) Appellants do not appeal this rejection. Regardless, the ’090 application went abandoned on November 5, 2018. Therefore, we dismiss as moot the obviousness-type double patenting rejection of claims 1, 10, and 19. The § 101 rejection Appellants do not separately argue the rejected claims. We select claim 1 as representative. Claims 4–10, 13–19, and 22–24 will stand or fall with claim 1. See 37 C.F.R. § 41.37(c)(1)(iv). “Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.” 35 U.S.C. § 101. Section 101, however, “‘contains an important implicit exception: Laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas are not patentable.’” Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. Appeal 2018-002214 Application 14/086,286 5 CLS Bank Int’l, 573 U.S. 208, 216 (2014) (quoting Assoc. for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., 569 U.S. 576, 589 (2013)). Alice applies a two-step framework, earlier set out in Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., 566 U.S. 66 (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. Under the two-step framework, it must first be determined if “the claims at issue are directed to a patent-ineligible concept.” Id. at 218. If the claims are determined to be directed to a patent-ineligible concept, e.g., an abstract idea, then the second step of the framework is applied to determine if “the elements of the claim . . . contain[] an ‘inventive concept’ sufficient to ‘transform’ the claimed abstract idea into a patent-eligible application.” Id. at 221 (citing Mayo, 566 U.S. at 72–73, 79). With regard to step one of the Alice framework, we apply a “directed to” two prong test to: 1) evaluate whether the claim recites a judicial exception, and 2) if the claim recites a judicial exception, evaluate whether the claim “appl[ies], rel[ies] on, or use[s] the judicial exception in a manner that imposes a meaningful limit on the judicial exception, such that the claim is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the judicial exception.” See USPTO, 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. 50, 54 (Jan. 7, 2019) (hereinafter “2019 Guidance”). Here, the Examiner determines that claim 1 is “directed to the abstract idea of calculating performance metrics for projects in a portfolio (i.e. directed to an abstract idea of certain methods of organizing human activity . . . ).” (Final Action 8 (emphasis omitted).) In other words, the Examiner Appeal 2018-002214 Application 14/086,286 6 determines that “the claims are directed to which project (i.e. technology asset) to invest in based on a series of steps that generate a chart to facilitate that decision.” (Answer 5.) Appellants argue that “the present claims are directed to ‘limited rules in a process specifically designed to achieve an improved technological result in conventional industry practice.’” (Appeal Br. 8 (quoting McRO, Inc. v. Bandai Namco Games Am. Inc., 837 F.3d 1299, 1316 (Fed. Cir. 2016)).) Under step one of the Alice framework, we “look at the ‘focus of the claimed advance over the prior art’ to determine if the claim’s ‘character as a whole’ is directed to excluded subject matter.” Affinity Labs of Texas, LLC v. DIRECTV, LLC, 838 F.3d 1253, 1257 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (quoting Elec. Power Grp., LLC v. Alstom S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1353 (Fed. Cir. 2016)). The “directed to” inquiry . . . cannot simply ask whether the claims involve a patent-ineligible concept, because essentially every routinely patent-eligible claim involving physical products and actions involves a law of nature and/or natural phenomenon . . . . Rather, the “directed to” inquiry applies a stage-one filter to claims, considered in light of the specification, based on whether “their character as a whole is directed to excluded subject matter.” Internet Patents Corp. v. Active Network, Inc., 790 F.3d 1343, 1346 (Fed. Cir. 2015). Enfish, LLC v. Microsoft Corp., 822 F.3d 1327, 1335 (Fed. Cir. 2016). In other words, the first step of the Alice framework “asks whether the focus of the claims is on the specific asserted improvement in [the relevant technology] or, instead, on a process that qualifies as an ‘abstract idea’ for which computers are invoked merely as a tool.” Id. at 1335–36; see also 2019 Guidance at 54–55. There is no requirement that the abstract idea be recited in the claim ipsis verbis. See Alice, 573 U.S. at 218, 213 n.2. Appeal 2018-002214 Application 14/086,286 7 The Specification provides evidence as to what the claimed invention is directed. The Specification discloses that the invention “relate[s] generally to asset evaluation and, more particularly, to methods and systems for evaluating technology assets.” (Spec. ¶ 2.) Claim 1 provides further evidence. It recites “[a] technology evaluation measurement (TEM) computer device . . . comprising: a processor in communication with a memory . . . programmed to: initiate an application program interface (API),” “in response to initiating the API call, automatically receive a first data feed,” “generate a first data set,” “receive technology maturity evaluation (TME) data,” “incorporate the TME data into the first data set,” “determine at least one evaluation function and at least one categorization function,” “process the first data set,” “generate . . . an evaluation output,” “and generate . . . an interactive graphical display.” None of the limitations recite technological implementation details. In short, claim 1 is directed to the abstract idea of certain methods of organizing human activity; in this case, commercial interactions (including business relations) and fundamental economic practices (evaluating/ managing assets). See, e.g., Bancorp Servs., LLC v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada (U.S.), 687 F.3d 1266, 1280 (Fed. Cir. 2012). This is accomplished by obtaining data, generating a first data set, receiving additional data, incorporating the additional data into the first data set, evaluating/analyzing the data, and generating an output including an interactive display. See Univ. of Florida Research Found., Inc. v. General Elec. Co., 916 F.3d 1363, 1367 (Fed. Cir. 2019) (“[T]he claims are directed to the abstract idea of ‘collecting, analyzing, manipulating, and displaying data.’”); see also Content Extraction and Transmission LLC v. Wells Fargo Appeal 2018-002214 Application 14/086,286 8 Bank, Nat’l Ass’n, 776 F.3d 1343, 1347 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (determining claims directed to collecting, recognizing, and storing data in a computer memory to be directed to an abstract idea). Although we and the Examiner describe, at different levels of abstraction, to what the claims are directed, it is recognized that “[a]n abstract idea can generally be described at different levels of abstraction.” Apple, Inc. v. Ameranth, Inc., 842 F.3d 1229, 1240 (Fed. Cir. 2016). That need not and, in this case does not, “impact the patentability analysis.” See id. at 1241. Nor do we see how the recitation of a “processor in communication with a memory” or “interactive graphical display,” even in conjunction with the recited functions, “ensure[s] ‘that the [claim] is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the [abstract idea].” Alice, 573 U.S. at 221 (brackets in original) (quoting Mayo, 566 U.S. at 77.) Moreover, the Specification discloses that the processor and memory may be generic computer components. (See, e.g., Spec. ¶ 45.) Nonetheless, Appellants seek to analogize claim 1 to the claims in McRO. Appellants argue that [i]n McRO, the technical improvement was automating generation of keyframes when creating an animated 3-D model. Here, the technical improvement is applying stored rules in a unique and specific matter to aggregate and process data associated with a first technology asset, and to generate an interactive graphical display representative of a technological evaluation of the first technology asset. (Appeal Br. 8–9.) We disagree. “The claimed improvement [in McRO] was to how the physical display operated (to produce better quality images), unlike (what is Appeal 2018-002214 Application 14/086,286 9 present here) a claimed improvement in a mathematical technique with no improved display mechanism.” SAP Am., Inc. v. InvestPic, LLC, 898 F.3d 1161, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2018). In other words, in McRO, data was used to improve the technology, i.e., the display mechanism. Here, although claim 1 recites, e.g., “generate a first data set,” “determine at least one evaluation function and at least one categorization function,” “process the first data set,” “generate . . . an evaluation output,” and “generate . . . an interactive graphical display,” claim 1 simply recites the functional results to be achieved by any possible means. It does not recite “a particular way of programming or designing the software . . . , but instead merely claim[s] the resulting system[].” Apple, Inc., 842 F.3d at 1241. Moreover, in this case, the asserted technical improvement, i.e., “applying stored rules in a unique and specific matter” (Appeal Br. 8), is, at best, an improvement to the abstract idea. But “[n]o matter how much of an advance in the . . . field the claims recite, the advance lies entirely in the realm of abstract ideas, with no plausibly alleged innovation in the non-abstract application realm.” SAP Am., Inc., 898 F.3d at 1163. Appellants also seek to analogize claim 1 to the claims in BASCOM Global Internet Services, Inc. v. AT&T Mobility LLC, 827 F.3d 1341 (Fed. Cir. 2016). (Appeal Br. 11–12.) Appellants argue that “[s]imilar to Bascom, the present claims carve out a very specific method for aggregating and processing data.” (Id. at 11.) In particular, Appellants argue, “[l]ike the filtering system of Bascom, the specific arrangement and distribution of functionality provided in the pending claims facilities the practical application described above.” (Id. at 12.) Appeal 2018-002214 Application 14/086,286 10 We do not find this argument persuasive. In BASCOM, the court determined that “an inventive concept can be found in the non-conventional and non-generic arrangement of known, conventional pieces.” BASCOM, 827 F.3d at 1350.2 Specifically, “[t]he inventive concept described and claimed in the ’606 patent is the installation of a filtering tool at a specific location, remote from the end-users, with customizable filtering features specific to each end user.” Id. at 1350. The Federal Circuit determined that this “particular arrangement of elements is a technical improvement over prior art ways of filtering.” Id. Appellants do not persuasively argue why the claimed “processor in communication with a memory” that obtains data, generates a first data set, receives additional data, incorporates the additional data into the first data set, evaluates/analyzes the data, and generates an output including an interactive display, is analogous to a filtering tool installed at a specific location with customizable features, that provides a technical improvement in filtering. Appellants also seek to analogize claim 1 to the claims in Enfish. Appellants argue that, like the claims in Enfish, “the pending claims . . . are directed to a specific implementation of a solution to a problem in the software arts (i.e., aggregating and processing data associated with a first technology asset to generate an interactive graphical display representative of a technological evaluation of the first technology asset.)” (Appeal Br. 12.) 2 We acknowledge that some of these considerations could be evaluated under step two of the Alice framework. However, for purposes of maintaining consistent treatment within the USPTO, we evaluate it under step one. See 2019 Guidance. Appeal 2018-002214 Application 14/086,286 11 We do not find this argument persuasive. The claims in Enfish were “specifically directed to a self-referential table for a computer database.” Enfish, 822 F.3d at 1337. That is, “the plain focus of the claims [was] on an improvement to computer functionality itself, not on economic or other tasks for which a computer is used in its ordinary capacity.” Id. at 1336. Appellants do not persuasively argue how claim 1 improves computer functionality. Appellants also argue that “the automated processing of information to provide a display is clearly patent-eligible subject matter.” (Reply Br. 3.) We disagree. Merely providing information on a display, even if the process of providing that information is automated, need not, and in this case does not, improve the processor or the technology. See Trading Techs. Int’l, Inc. v. IBG LLC, 921 F.3d 1378, 1384–85 (Fed. Cir. 2019) (“[T]he claims here fail because arranging information along an axis does not improve the functioning of the computer, make it operate more efficiently, or solve any technological problem.”). In view of the above, we agree with the Examiner that claim 1 is directed to an abstract idea. Step two of the Alice framework has been described “as a search for an ‘“inventive concept”’ –i.e., an element or combination of elements that is ‘sufficient to ensure that the patent in practice amounts to significantly more than a patent upon the [ineligible concept] itself.’” Alice, 573 U.S. at 217– 18 (quoting Mayo, 566 U.S. at 72–73). Taking the claim elements separately, the functions performed by the generic processor and memory are purely conventional. Obtaining data, generating a first data set, receiving additional data, incorporating the Appeal 2018-002214 Application 14/086,286 12 additional data into the first data set, evaluating/analyzing the data, and generating an output including an interactive display are basic computer functions, i.e., they are well-understood, routine, and conventional functions previously known to the industry. See Elec. Power Grp., 830 F.3d at 1356 (The claims “do not include any requirement for performing the claimed functions of gathering, analyzing, and displaying in real time by use of anything but entirely conventional, generic technology. The claims therefore do not state an arguably inventive concept . . . .”); see also In re Katz Interactive Call Processing Patent Litig., 639 F.3d 1303, 1316 (Fed. Cir. 2011) (“Absent a possible narrower construction of the terms ‘processing,’ ‘receiving,’ and ‘storing,’ . . . those functions can be achieved by any general purpose computer without special programming.”). Considered as an ordered combination, the generic components of Appellants’ device add nothing that is not already present when the limitations are considered separately. For example, claim 1 does not, as discussed above, purport to improve the functioning of the processor or memory. Nor does it effect an improvement in any other technology or technical field. Instead, claim 1 amounts to nothing significantly more than an instruction to apply the abstract idea using generic computer components performing routine computer functions. That is not enough to transform an abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention. See Alice, 573 U.S. at 225–26. Claims 4–10, 13–19, and 22–24 are not separately argued. They fall with claim 1. See 37 C.F.R. § 41.37(c)(1)(iv). Appeal 2018-002214 Application 14/086,286 13 The § 103 rejection Appellants argue that “Davies is silent regarding TME [(technology maturity evaluation)] data that includes response data i) from questions posed to a plurality of subject matter experts and ii) associated with a first technology asset.” (Appeal Br. 15.) Appellants also argue that “Davies is silent regarding incorporating such TME data into a first data set generated from a first data feed and including data related to the first technology asset.” (Id.) As an initial matter, we define the claim term “TME data.” Neither Appellants nor the Examiner offer a definition or point to a definition in the Specification. We note that the Specification discloses that “TME data 520 may include response data from subject matter experts, scoring data generated by TME computer device 114 using response data, and graphical representations generated by TME computer device 114.” (Spec. ¶ 71.) Applying a broadest reasonable interpretation, we conclude that “TME data” includes response data from subject matter experts, scoring data/metrics generated by the TME computer, and graphical representations generated by the TME computer. In doing so, we note that the Specification distinguishes response data from subject matter experts, from scoring data/metrics generated by the TME computer. The Examiner finds that Davies discloses features for obtaining program data including “[u]sers define questions and answer scales,” “[u]sers define performance or attractiveness metrics,” “[u]sers define how question scores are used to calculate metrics,” “[q]uestionaire are [sic] generated and sent to any number of users. The responses can then be gathered, discussed, and a consensus score for each question agreed on and Appeal 2018-002214 Application 14/086,286 14 that score is used to calculate metrics.” (Davies ¶¶ 27–30; see also Final Action 25–26, Answer 18.) Appellants do not persuasively argue why this is not a disclosure of posing questions to subject matter experts associated with a technology. However, claim 1 recites “incorporate the TME data into the first data set,” and that “the TME data includ[es] response data from questions posed to a plurality of subject matter experts.” Thus, the recited TME data must include the response data from the subject matter experts, regardless of whether it includes other TME data. The Examiner finds that Davies teaches receiv[ing] technology maturity evaluation (TME) data from a TME computer device in communication with said TEM computer device, the TME data including response data from questions posed to a plurality of subject matter experts, the response data associated with the first technology asset; incorporate the TME data into the first data set. (Final Action 25–26 (emphasis omitted).) Specifically, the Examiner points to paragraph 144 of Davies which discloses that [r]eal-time status reports on cost, schedule, risks, and metrics keep users informed of Program progress. From this network- based workspace, the invention automatically routes work assignments and data to team members’ in-boxes based on the Program’s progress. The Program Workspace is a central location for the Program where all the participants involved can collaborate and share information. (Id. at 27 (quoting Davies ¶ 144 (emphasis omitted)).) Also, the Examiner finds that Donath teaches “project portfolio analysis where each project has an associated set of data identified with it. This data is received, i.e. is used as an input to the portfolio analysis. The data set is generated by analysis of Appeal 2018-002214 Application 14/086,286 15 the projects being analyzed.” (Id. at 19–20.) Thus, the Examiner determines, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to have modified the teachings of Donath to have included the system (i.e. using software and hardware) approach to automate the product development process because it would have provided the benefit of improving the ability to manage the process by providing those involved with a real time update regarding how different projects and the overall portfolio was performing with respect to stated organizational goals. (Id. at 27; see also Answer 18.) The Supreme Court in KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398 . . . (2007), explained that, “because inventions in most, if not all, instances rely upon building blocks long since uncovered, and claimed discoveries almost of necessity will be combinations of what, in some sense, is already known,” “it can be important to identify a reason that would have prompted a person of ordinary skill in the relevant field to combine the elements in the way the claimed new invention does.” Id. at 418– 19 . . . . The required “expansive and flexible approach,” id. at 415 . . . , may look at a variety of facts, including prior-art teachings and marketplace demands and artisans’ background knowledge, “in order to determine whether there was an apparent reason to combine the known elements in the fashion claimed by the patent at issue,” id. at 418 . . . ; see also id. at 420–421 . . . . The Supreme Court added: “To facilitate review, this analysis should be made explicit.” Id. at 418 . . . . Personal Web Techs., LLC v. Apple, Inc., 848 F.3d 987, 991–92 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (emphasis added). We do not find in paragraph 144 or the other cited portions of Davies, a disclosure of receiving TME data from a TME computer device where the TME data includes “response data from questions posed to a plurality of subject matter experts,” as opposed to receiving scoring data/metrics Appeal 2018-002214 Application 14/086,286 16 generated by, e.g., a TME computer. (See Claim 1.) Nor does the Examiner make explicit why it would have been obvious to incorporate “TME data including response data from questions posted to a plurality of subject matter experts,” rather than simply incorporating calculated scoring data/metrics, into the generated first data set. (See id.) The Examiner does not rely on the other cited art to cure this deficiency. Therefore, we will reverse the § 103 rejection of claim 1. Independent claims 10 and 19 contain similar language and for similar reasons, we will reverse the rejection of independent claims 10 and 19, and dependent claims 4–9, 13–18, and 22–24. DECISION The Examiner’s provisional rejection of claims 1, 10, and 19 on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 11, and 20 of the ’090 application is dismissed as moot. The Examiner’s rejection of claims 1, 4–10, 13–19, and 22–24 under 35 U.S.C. § 101 is affirmed. The Examiner’s rejection of claims 1, 4–10, 13–19, and 22–24 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) is reversed. 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