Appeal No. 2004-0403
Application 09/100,684
or theoretical methods. An "abstract idea" is "embodied" or a
"practical application" or "concrete" when it is utilized in an
invention that is a "process, machine, manufacture, or
composition of matter" under § 101, and is "useful" when it has
utility. Where the claim covers any and every possible way that
the steps may be performed, this is more likely to be a claim to
the "abstract idea" itself, rather than a practical application
of the idea. For example, in discussing the mathematical
algorithm in Gottschalk v. Benson, the Supreme Court discussed
the cases holding that a principle, in the abstract, cannot be
patented and then stated:
Here the "process" claim is so abstract and sweeping as
to cover both known and unknown uses of the BCD to pure
binary conversion. The end use may ... be performed through
any existing machinery or future-devised machinery or
without any apparatus.
409 U.S. at 68, 175 USPQ at 675. The fact that a claimed method
is not tied to a machine, even if the method could be performed
by a machine, and that it does not recite a transformation of
physical subject matter to a different state or thing, is an
indication that the method is a disembodied "abstract idea" and
is not a practical application, as broadly claimed.
Claims 22-26 and 28-30 describe the plan for acquiring new
customer. The method, as claimed, is considered an "abstract
idea" because no concrete and tangible means for accomplishing
the plan is claimed. The method, as claimed, covers any and
- 13 -
Page: Previous 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007