E-Commerce Fraud Prevention Patent Likely Unpatentable Under 35 U.S.C. § 101

The Board granted institution of covered business method review of a patent directed to fraud prevention in e-commerce transactions under 35 U.S.C. § 101. "The [challenged] patent . . . [provides] a system and method for verifying, authenticating, and providing notification of a transaction, such as a financial transaction, to at least one party represented or identified as engaging in the transaction while it occurs. . . . [T]he problem of insecure transactions may be amplified by the use of electronic systems, and clearly there are advantages to performing financial or commercial transactions using computer technology. This, however, does not, in itself, remove the claimed subject matter from the realm of the abstract as 'necessarily rooted in technology.' . . . [A]ll of the challenged claims recite elements of computers and computer networking. However, despite the setting and the purportedly computer network specific problem addressed, we are persuaded that the claims are more likely than not directed to the abstract idea of using an associated non-merchant party and a second communication link to verify the authenticity of a requested transaction taking place on a first communication link. . . . Nothing about the concept behind the challenged claims depends upon their implementation by specific computer or networking technology. In fact, the communication links can be implemented using conventional technologies such as 'wireline telephony,' 'fax,' 'paging,' and 'other widely used services and protocols.'"

Petition for Covered Business Method Patent Review by Southside Bancshares, Inc., CBM2016-00026 (PTAB August 1, 2016, Order) (Bisk, APJ)