Software License Verification Patent Invalid Under 35 U.S.C. § 101

The court granted defendant's motion to dismiss because the asserted claims of plaintiff’s software license verification patent encompassed unpatentable subject matter and found that the claims were directed toward an abstract idea. "The claims of the [patent] are not focused on how usage of the BIOS to store the verification structure leads to an improvement in computer security. Instead, the claim calls for the set-up of the verification structure data in the erasable, non-volatile memory of the BIOS, a memory that is typically used to store data. The ease or difficulty of altering this data does not change its function, or represent an improvement in its function. . . . Reading the claims as a whole it is apparent that their focus is on the abstract concept of selecting a program, verifying whether the program is licensed, and acting on the program according to the verification. The requirement that the verification 'key' be placed as data within the BIOS memory is at best a limitation of the invention, and does not make the concept of the claims any less abstract."

Ancora Technologies, Inc. v. HTC America, Inc. et al, 2-16-cv-01919 (WAWD December 14, 2017, Order) (Jones, USDJ)