Tag Archives: IBM

Last week, Dennis Crouch highlighted recent decisions from the Patent Office Board of Appeals and Interferences that evaluated the patent-eligibility of claims under 35 USC § 101. One case with relevance to biotech and pharmaceutical applicants upheld the § 101 rejection of IBM claims directed to methods for clustering genes having potential functional similarity by comparing gene expression profiles based on both the time and intensity of gene expression. In that case, In re Kelkar, the Board found that the claims failed the “machine or transformation test” (MOT) and were directed to an abstract idea, despite language that invoked the use of a computer.

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