Federal Circuit Rules That Claim Construction Disputes May Preclude Alice Dismissal under Aatrix

August 23, 2019

E-Commerce and Software, Patent Litigation Feature
The Federal Circuit’s February 2018 decisions in Berkheimer and Aatrix have had a sweeping impact on district court patent eligibility challenges by establishing that factual disputes over inventiveness may preclude dismissal under Alice. A recent RPX analysis indicates that the result has been a roughly 23% drop in nationwide Section 101 invalidations by patent since those opinions issued. Now, a new Federal Circuit opinion may provide an additional obstacle for defendants filing Alice motions: On August 16, the appeals court clarified that Aatrix also requires district courts to address claim construction disputes before issuing a ruling on a patent’s eligibility.