Slot Machine Patent Claims Invalid Under 35 U.S.C. § 101

The court granted defendant's motion for summary judgment that the asserted claims of plaintiff’s gaming machine patents encompassed unpatentable subject matter and found that the claims lacked an inventive concept. "The Court rejects [plaintiff's] argument that the ordered combination of claims results in an inventive concept by virtue of the unique display or configuration of symbols on the simulated reels. While the claims at issue here may disclose a different configuration of the displayed symbols in a slot machine game, they do not disclose a new game or a new technology directed to the slot game. . . . Selecting an identical symbol for a consecutive run of symbols in one simulated digital reel, at least as disclosed in the asserted claims here, does not represent a new form of selection or derive from a new technology associated with slot games. . . . Changes to game rules of a generic slot machine using conventional technology are not patentable."

Konami Gaming, Inc. v. PTT, LLC d/b/a High 5 Games, 2-14-cv-01483 (NVD February 22, 2018, Order) (Boulware, II, USDJ)