Digital Archiving Patent Ineligible Under 35 U.S.C. § 101​

The court granted defendant's motion for summary judgment that plaintiff's digital archiving patent was invalid because the asserted claims encompassed unpatentable subject matter and found that the claims were directed toward an abstract idea. "At their core, these four steps describe instructions for using a generic computer to collect, organize, compare, and present data for reconciliation prior to archiving. . . . [Enfish, LLC v. Microsoft Corp., 822 F.3d 1327 (Fed. Cir. 2016)] did not go so far as to hold that any method purporting to improve computer functionality is patent-eligible. . . . Moreover, the decision did nothing to unsettle past Federal Circuit case law holding that claims calling for the addition of 'conventional computer components to well-known business practices' are drawn to an abstract idea, even when those claims purport to improve computer functionality through increased speed or efficiency. Here, the claims in the [patent] purport to improve digital archiving by 'promot[ing] efficiency,' 'achiev[ing] object integrity,' and 'reduc[ing] turnaround time and costs.' These types of generic technological improvements can result from virtually any computer implementation of conventional business methods. The Court therefore disagrees with [plaintiff] that its claims are directed to the kinds of specific, concrete, nonconventional improvements that made the claims in Enfish patent-eligible."

Berkheimer v. Hewlett-Packard Company, 1-12-cv-09023 (ILND December 12, 2016, Order) (Lee, USDJ)