Appeal No. 1998-0650
Application 08/548,794
With respect to the mathematical algorithm
exception, the Federal Circuit in State Street Bank v.
Signature Financial, 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 "a mathematical algorithm
is unpatentable only to the extent that it represents an
abstract idea" and is thus not "useful." Id. 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 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
tangible result' . . ." Id. at 1601.
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