Appeal No. 95-0394
Application No. 08/065,786
matter within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 101. Accordingly, we
reverse.
With respect to the rejection of the claims under
35 U.S.C. § 101 as being directed to nonstatutory subject
matter in the form of a mathematical algorithm, the appeal
brief and the examiner’s answer were filed in the middle of
1994. The Board remanded this case to the examiner in 1995
for consideration of the applicability of the Commissioner’s
published “Examination Guidelines for Computer-Implemented
Inventions.” On remand, the examiner determined that the
rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 101 was still proper, and the case
is now before us for decision on the merits.
The examiner’s rejection applies the two-step test
which is now commonly referred to as the Freeman-Walter-Abele
test. See In re Freeman, 573 F.2d 1237, 197 USPQ 464 (CCPA
1978) as modified by In re Walter, 618 F.2d 758, 205 USPQ 397
(CCPA 1980). The test has been thus articulated:
First, the claim is analyzed to
determine whether a mathematical
algorithm is directly or indirectly
recited. Next, if a mathematical
algorithm is found, the claim as a
whole is further analyzed to determine
whether the algorithm is “applied in any manner
4
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007