Board Decision
The Board concluded that the method claims were directed to an “abstract idea, and therefore were not patent-eligible subject matter. The Board then found that a “paradigm” does not fall within any of section 101's four enumerated categories of statutory subject matter. Then, turning to the paradigm claims’ internal reference to “a marketing company,” the Board said:
There is nothing in the record of this case that would suggest that “a marketing company” can be considered to be a process, a machine, a manufacture or a composition of matter. In other words, the paradigm claims on appeal are not directed to statutory subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because they are not directed to subject matter within the four recognized categories of patentable inventions. Therefore, the paradigm claims, claims 24-35, are not patentable under 35 U.S.C. § 101 for at least this reason.
Read more about this topic: In Re Ferguson
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