In the first-ever hearing on a patent issue under the ITC’s Pilot Program for early case disposition, ALJ Shaw has found that the asserted claims of the sole patent-in-suit fail to recite patent-eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101. As we reported in a previous blog post, the ITC, pursuant to the Pilot Program, had ordered Judge Shaw to hold an expedited hearing on patent eligibility in Certain Portable Electronic Devices and Components Thereof, Inv. No. 337-TA-994. The case is significant both for its use of the Pilot Program and as continuing a growing trend in Section 337 investigations to dispose of cases on patent ineligibility grounds.
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