Page 12 - How to Successfully Obtain Blockchain Patents Brochure

Sample Claim 3
3. A method of ranking icons of a computer system, the method comprising:
determining, by a processor, the amount of use of each icon over a predetermined period of time; and
ranking the icons, by the processor, based on the determined amount of use.
Step
Analysis
1: Statutory Category?
Yes. The claim recites a series of steps and, therefore, is a process.
2A - Prong 1: Judicial Exception Recited?
Yes. Under the broadest reasonable interpretation of each, the determining and ranking limitations would include performance in an actor’s mind for the same reason discussed above for the determining limitation of sample claim 1. Thus, both qualify as an abstract idea in the category of “Mental Processes.”
2A - Prong 2: Integrated into a Practical Application?
No. Other than the two abstract limitations, the claim recites only one additional element: that a processor is used to perform both the ranking and determining steps. But the processor is only recited at a high level of generality (i.e., as a generic processor performing a generic computer function of processing data). This generic recitation is considered no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. There are no meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
Thus, the claim is directed to an abstract idea in Step 2A.
2B: Claim provides an Inventive Concept?
No. As discussed with respect to Step 2A Prong Two, the additional element in the claim amounts to no more
than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component.
The same analysis applies here in 2B, i.e., mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot integrate a judicial exception into a practical application at Step 2A or provide an inventive concept in Step 2B.
The claim is ineligible.
How to Successfully Obtain Blockchain Patents
Example 2 (USPTO Example 40): Adaptive Monitoring of Network Traffic Data
In this example, the invention is a method for adaptive monitoring of traffic data through a network appliance connected between computing devices in a network. This is meant to be an improvement over prior art monitoring systems in that this invention will vary the amount of network data collected to avoid any hindrance on network performance due to the continual collection of large amounts of data.
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