Electronic Trading Patent Likely Unpatentable Under 35 U.S.C. § 101​

The Board granted institution of covered business method review of a patent directed to electronic trading under 35 U.S.C. § 101. "[C]laim 1, as a whole, recites a sequence for displaying and submitting electronic versions of what used to be paper forms—i.e., using two screens—one displaying price information and the second comprising a detailed order form—to confirm or modify orders. While it may be true that, a human could not 'provide a configurable trading interface,' the idea of dividing trading into two steps—displaying a price and then having a detailed order form was, as Petitioner shows, a known, if not ancient, concept . . . . [T]he claimed improvement does not improve the performance of the computer, but instead improves the performance of the human. The computers operate just as they always did, and the invention simply uses existing computer tools to allow the human to perform better. Patent Owner’s arguments to the contrary do not persuade us that claim 1 is not directed to an abstract idea."

Petition for Covered Business Method Patent Review by CQG, Inc., CBM2016-00047 (PTAB September 9, 2016, Order) (Cherry, APJ)