Software-Based Algorithm Claims of Garage Door Opener Patent Invalid Under 35 U.S.C. § 101

Following an evidentiary hearing, the ALJ determined that one of complainant's garage door opener patents encompassed unpatentable subject matter and found that the claims were directed toward an abstract idea. "The language of the claim is itself dispositive, but the [asserted] patent’s focus on calculation is strong circumstantial evidence that claim 15 is directed to a software-based routine, or algorithm -- an ineligible concept under 35 U.S.C. § 101. . . . [T]he only structures implicated by these claims are a movable barrier and motor, but even then, they are not actually part of the claimed methods. Rather, they are recited to explain the identity of data values like 'characteristic force value' and 'motor operation compensation value'. . . . Setting aside whether or not Respondents omitted discussion of key limitations, I find the [asserted] patent claims can be performed in the human mind because of their precise wording."

Access Control Systems and Components Thereof, 337-TA-1016 (ITC November 21, 2017, Order) (Pender, ALJ)