Asserted Claims of Activity Tracking Patent Ineligible for Patent Protection Under 35 U.S.C. § 101

The ALJ granted respondents' motion for summary determination because the asserted claims of complainant's activity tracking patent encompassed unpatentable subject matter and found that the claims were directed toward an abstract idea. "I find both independent [claims] are directed to the abstract concept of collecting information about a user's physical activity based on thresholds stored in the computer memory. . . . [Complainant] does not contend that any of the physical elements of the claimed apparatus, including the removable component, the motion sensor, the computer memory, the circuity, the visual indicator, and/or the transmitter was unconventional at the time of the invention. . . .Thus, stripped of the conventional elements, the asserted claims recite nothing more than the naked abstract idea of an apparatus for collecting information about a user's physical activity based on thresholds stored in computer memory. . . . [Complainant] does not dispute that the idea of discounting minor movements that do not constitute physical activity (i. e., below the threshold) or the idea of setting a goal for physical activity existed in the real world. Computerizing those ideas through the use of generic sensors and generic circuitry does not make the idea less abstract. . . . Nor do accuracy considerations make a claimed invention less abstract."

Wearable Activity Tracking Devices, Systems, and Components Thereof, 337-TA-973 (ITC August 9, 2016, Order) (Pender, ALJ)