Case: Patents/Validity (Fed. Cir.)

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a federal district court’s decision, in Ubisoft Entm’t S.A.'s action against Yousician Oy for the infringement of Ubisoft’s patent titled “Interactive Guitar Game,” that the patent claims ineligible subject matter. The Federal Circuit found that Ubisoft’s patent merely claims an abstract process in five steps: (1) “presenting” notations; (2) “receiving” input; (3) “assessing” performance; (4) “determining” weaknesses; and (5) “changing” the difficulty level or “generating” mini-games. The Federal Circuit also found that nothing in the claims or the specification of Ubisoft’s patent discloses a technological improvement over conventional methods; rather, the ...