TARANTO, Circuit JudgeAncora Technologies, Inc.’s
U.S. Patent 6,411,941 is entitled “Method of Restricting Software Operation With-in a License Limitation.” The patent describes and claims methods of limiting a computer’s running of software not authorized for that computer to run. It issued in 2002, and the patentability of all claims was confirmed in a reexamination in 2010. The ’941 patent was previously before this court in Ancora Technologies, Inc. v. Apple, Inc., 744 F.3d 732 (Fed. Cir. 2014), which involved a 2011 infringement suit against Apple that raised issues of claim construction and indefiniteness in this court. Ancora brought this action against HTC America and HTC Corporation in 2016, alleging infringement of the ’941 patent. HTC moved to dismiss on the ground that the patent’s claims are invalid because their subject matter is ineligible for patenting under 35 U.S.C § 101. The district court granted HTC’s motion to dismiss, concluding that the claims are directed to, and ultimately claim no more than, an abstract idea.
We reverse. Under Enfish, LLC v. Microsoft Corp., 822 F.3d 1327 (Fed. Cir. 2016), and related authorities, we conclude, the claims at issue here are not directed to ineligible subject matter. Rather, we hold, the claimed advance is a concrete assignment of specified functions among a computer’s components to improve computer security, and this claimed improvement in computer functionality is eligible for patenting. As a result, the claims are not invalid under § 101.I A Describing aspects of the prior-art methods it seeks to improve, the ’941 patent states that “[n]umerous methods have been devised for the identifying and restricting of an unauthorized software program’s operation.” ’941 patent,
U.S. Patent 6,411,941 is entitled “Method of Restricting Software Operation With-in a License Limitation.” The patent describes and claims methods of limiting a computer’s running of software not authorized for that computer to run. It issued in 2002, and the patentability of all claims was confirmed in a reexamination in 2010. The ’941 patent was previously before this court in Ancora Technologies, Inc. v. Apple, Inc., 744 F.3d 732 (Fed. Cir. 2014), which involved a 2011 infringement suit against Apple that raised issues of claim construction and indefiniteness in this court. Ancora brought this action against HTC America and HTC Corporation in 2016, alleging infringement of the ’941 patent. HTC moved to dismiss on the ground that the patent’s claims are invalid because their subject matter is ineligible for patenting under 35 U.S.C § 101. The district court granted HTC’s motion to dismiss, concluding that the claims are directed to, and ultimately claim no more than, an abstract idea.
We reverse. Under Enfish, LLC v. Microsoft Corp., 822 F.3d 1327 (Fed. Cir. 2016), and related authorities, we conclude, the claims at issue here are not directed to ineligible subject matter. Rather, we hold, the claimed advance is a concrete assignment of specified functions among a computer’s components to improve computer security, and this claimed improvement in computer functionality is eligible for patenting. As a result, the claims are not invalid under § 101.I A Describing aspects of the prior-art methods it seeks to improve, the ’941 patent states that “[n]umerous methods have been devised for the identifying and restricting of an unauthorized software program’s operation.” ’941 patent,
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