Appeal No. 95-0323
Application 08/051,928
nothing more than a mathematical algorithm. Appellant argues
that the “generating a frequency output” step of claim 1 is a
significant and essential post-solution activity.
Although the examiner applied the Freeman-Walter-Abele
test in a manner which was consistent with the law at that
time, the most recent decisions of the Court of Appeals for
the Federal Circuit cast substantial doubt on the propriety of
this test.
It is the current view of the court that unpatentable
mathematical algorithms are identifiable by showing that they
are merely abstract ideas constituting disembodied concepts or
truths that are not “useful.” From a practical standpoint,
this means that to be patentable, an algorithm must be applied
in a “useful”
way. See State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial
Group, Inc., 149 F.3d 1368, 47 USPQ2d 1596 (Fed. Cir. 1998).
Independent claim 1 is directed to a method for storing
an information pool of random values and for generating a
frequency output using this information pool. The values of
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