Data Security Patent Unpatentable Under 35 U.S.C. § 101 Despite Enfish

In a final written decision, the Board found claims of a patent directed to a data security system unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 101. "[W]e are persuaded by Petitioner that the claims are directed to the abstract idea of determining whether access to data should be granted based on whether one or more rules are satisfied. . . .The databases and access rules recited in claims 1 and 8 perform their normal functions and achieve expected results. The protection of data in a database at the data element level still comports with the abstract idea of determining whether access to data should be granted based on whether one or more rules are satisfied. . . . We are also mindful of recent admonishments by the Federal Circuit that the first step of our analysis should not be pro forma when the claims are directed to improvements in software. See Enfish, LLC v. Microsoft Corp., No. 2015-1244 , 2016 WL 2756255, at *4 (Fed. Cir. May 12, 2016) . . . We are not persuaded, however, that the instant claims are directed to a specific improvement to the way computers operate."

Petition for Covered Business Method Patent Review by Informatica Corporation, CBM2015-00021 (PTAB May 31, 2016, Order) (Turner, APJ)