Appeal No. 96-1455
Application No. 08/218,279
With respect to the mathematical algorithm and abstract
idea exception, the Federal Circuit in State Street Bank &
Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group, Inc., 149 F.3d 1368,
1373, 47 USPQ2d 1596, 1600 (Fed. Cir. 1998) first identified
the judicially created three categories that are not
patentable (laws of nature, natural phenomena and abstract
ideas) citing Diamond v. Diehr, 450 U.S. 175, 185, 209 USPQ 1,
7 (1981). 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." State
Street Bank, 149 F.3d 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 non-statutory
subject matter, unless, of course, its operation does not
produce a 'useful, concrete and tangible result.'" State
Street Bank, 149 F.3d 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,
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