Interactive Wearables, LLC v. Polar Electro Oy, et al.

The patents-in-suit are directed to an electronic hardware device comprising a content player/remotecontrol combination having numerous concretely-recited components that undisputedly qualifies as a “machine” or “manufacture” under the statutory language of 35 U.S.C. § 101. Nevertheless, the court below found the claims of the patents-in-suit invalid under Section 101, on a motion to dismiss, for claiming nothing more than the abstract idea of “providing information in conjunction with media content.” As a justification for disregarding each recited structural component from its characterization of what the claims are “directed to,” the court resorted to a factual, enablement-style analysis of the level of detail in the specification and declared it insufficient to support patentability. The questions presented are:

1. What is the appropriate standard for determining whether a patent claim is “directed to” a patent-ineligible concept under step one of the Court’s two-step framework for determining whether an invention is eligible for patenting under 35 U.S.C. § 101?

2. Is patent eligibility (at each step of the Court’s two-step framework) a question of law for the court based on the scope of the claims or a question of fact for the jury based on the state of art at the time of the patent?

3. Is it proper to apply 35 U.S.C. § 112 considerations to determine whether a patent claims eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101?