Computer Virus Protection Patent Not Invalid Under 35 U.S.C. § 101​

Following a jury trial, the court denied defendant's motion for partial judgment that plaintiff’s malware monitoring patent encompassed unpatentable subject matter because the asserted claims did not lack an inventive concept. "[T]he claims recite an inventive concept when taken as an ordered combination and considered in context. The [patent] notes that, prior to its invention, malware protection programs were only able to detect and protect against known viruses and were installed on particular user computers. The [patent] details a new kind of virus protection: one that is located on a network computer, rather than the end-user computer, and which is able to detect unknown viruses by identifying suspicious components in unique and novel code. The [patent] therefore includes a 'non-conventional and non-generic arrangement of known, conventional pieces' such that, when taken as an ordered combination, it recites an inventive concept."

Finjan, Inc. v. Sophos, Inc., 3-14-cv-01197 (CAND March 14, 2017, Order) (Orrick, USDJ)