Functionality Trumps User Experience for Patent Eligibility of Software Patents: An Overview of Simio, LLC v. FlexSim Software Products, Inc. | Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently issued the decision of Simio, LLC. V. FlexSim Software Products, Inc. (Dec. 29, 2020). In upholding the District Court’s decision that the software claims at issue were patent ineligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101, the Federal Circuit found that improving a user experience does not constitute an improvement to technology under Step 1 of the patent eligibility test enunciated in Alice, and that the specification’s “focus” is taken into account when determining whether a claim is “directed to” an abstract idea under Step 1 of ...