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Ex parte SUTTON - Page 4
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Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences > 1998 > Ex parte SUTTON - Page 4
Appeal No. 94-4200
Application 07/979,139
149 F.3d 1368, 47 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1998), first
identified the three categories that are not patentable--laws
of nature, natural phenomena and abstract ideas. The opinion
went on to note "the mathematical algorithm is unpatentable
only to the extent that it represents an abstract idea" and is
thus not "useful." Id. at 1373 n.4, 47 USPQ2d at 1600-01 n.4.
Later in its opinion, the
court returned to this issue: "[T]he mere fact that a claimed
invention involves inputting numbers, calculating numbers,
outputting numbers, and storing numbers, in and of itself,
would not render it nonstatutory subject matter, unless, of
course, its operation does not produce a ‘useful, concrete and
tangible result.’" Id. at 1374, 47 USPQ2d at 1602. In this
case, the court stated that "the transformation of data,
representing discrete dollar amounts, by a machine through a
series of mathematical calculations into a final share price,
constitutes a practical application of a mathematical
algorithm . . . because it produces ’a useful, concrete and
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Last modified: November 3, 2007
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