[USPTO Memo re Software Patents]

On May 19, 2016, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a memo concerning two recent judicial decisions on the patentability of software inventions (Enfish, LLC v. Microsoft Corp. and TLI Communications LLC v. A.V. Automotive, LLC).

Enfish Inc.’s U.S. Patent Nos. 6,151,604 & 6,163,775

The memo explains the USPTO’s interpretation of the Enfish case, where the Federal Circuit confirmed the patentability of a “self-referential” database invention as not being directed to an abstract idea under 35 U.S.C. § 101, and the TLI Communications case, where the Federal Circuit found a proposed invention of  classifying and storing digital images using a telephone unit to be abstract.

Read the entire memo here.