A Negative Day for this Patent Applicant: Travel Itinerary Apps Ineligible Beneath Portion 101

In the case of In re Bongiorno, No. 2020-1835, 2021 WL 1997454, at *4 (Fed. Cir. Might 19, 2021), patent applicant James Bongiorno appealed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) locating that two of his patent applications ended up directed to patent-ineligible topic matter less than Portion 101. Just about every application similar to “planning and executing a family vacation or journey itinerary, and extra especially to computer software and a transportable electronic device, which might be focused to this sort of preparing and journey help at the place.”

The programs defined that travelers usually utilized constrained-purpose equipment, like the International Positioning Program (GPS), vacation web sites, planners, guidebooks and multimedia gamers, but the claimed invention blended “all of the features of the books and electronic devices which may have to have to be used in scheduling and richly going through a holiday abroad into just one sophisticated and sensible setting up/touring device, with effective functions to enhance everyone’s vacation encounter.”

At Alice step a single, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit agreed with the PTAB when it identified that the statements ended up directed to “arranging and executing a trip or journey itinerary,” which was correctly a approach of organizing human activity – an abstract notion. Bongiorno argued that the claimers were being directed to improved know-how, but the Federal Circuit disagreed: the assert restrictions “recited not ‘inventive programming’ but ‘simply preferred outcomes.'”

At Alice step two, the Federal Circuit yet again agreed with the PTAB and found that the recited elements (e.g., a database, a viewing screen) did not total to noticeably a lot more than the summary plan alone: “The things amounted merely to implementing the summary thought using generic laptop factors doing regime pc features.”

Accordingly, the Federal Circuit held that the patent purposes were being ineligible less than Portion 101.

A representative claim from the applications is under:

A vacation itinerary device comprising:

a housing

a non-transitory computer system-readable program storage medium having computer system readable software code embodied therein, mentioned laptop or computer readable code remaining configured for preparing of a journey itinerary

a database of travel facts, relating to a place, saved in explained non-transitory laptop or computer-readable software storage medium

a viewing display

a processor for executing explained personal computer readable code, mentioned laptop readable code comprising recommendations for accessing explained database of information and facts on stated non-transitory personal computer-readable application storage medium, and for causing exhibiting, on stated viewing screen, of one particular or additional picture screens allowing selective scheduling of claimed vacation itinerary

a approach itinerary button, an alter itinerary button, and one particular or extra added buttons configured, when toggled, for communicating a assortment, from amid a plurality of solutions exhibited inside of reported just one or much more picture screens, to reported processor, and for allowing selective entry of a person or additional figures

whereby stated selective preparing includes actuating explained approach itinerary button for producing exhibiting of a first image display by stated guidance, claimed to start with impression screen configured for deciding on a to start with itinerary template and just one or a lot more supplemental itinerary templates from among the a plurality of explained further templates, said initially itinerary template comprising a template for coming into of a amount of days for claimed itinerary, an arrival town and a departure city, and for deciding upon of just one of a plurality of graduated concentrations of a tour plan depth, each and every of mentioned graduated ranges of claimed tour agenda depth comprising a variety of several hours for touring for each and every of claimed quantity of times just about every of explained plurality of additional itinerary templates comprising a respective listing of web pages relating to a category of explained extra template, with a part of reported listing of internet sites in each individual stated chosen a single or additional added itinerary templates staying made use of to form a total travel itinerary, explained complete journey itinerary comprising a sequence of internet sites, for every of claimed number of days, with claimed sequence of web pages being optimized to include as numerous web-sites as doable in stated range of touring hours, for touring at the place

wherein explained selective setting up more comprises reported change itinerary button configured for creating exhibiting of a customizing picture display, claimed customizing image display screen permitting, but not necessitating, customizing of explained sequence of web sites of reported total itinerary, working with selective access to stated database of travel details, for building a tailored sequence of sites for a full customized journey itinerary and

wherein mentioned laptop readable code is configured for retrievably storing mentioned selective scheduling within just said software storage medium and

a use itinerary button, explained use itinerary button configured, when actuated, for resulting in exhibiting of a steerage monitor configured for communicating with a GPS receiver for supplying assistance through executing of claimed vacation itinerary at the desired destination, claimed direction comprising offering instructions to any of claimed sequence of web-sites from a present location of reported journey itinerary unit.

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