Interval Licensing, LLC v. AOL, Inc.

The patent describes an “attention manager [that] makes use of ‘unused capacity’” of a display device, by displaying content in that unused capacity; it can display content when the display device is turned on but the user is not actively engaged or display content in an area of the display screen not used by already-displayed content with which the user is engaged. In 2014, the Federal Circuit upheld a judgment invalidating various claims on indefiniteness grounds but remanded with respect to four claims; the court construed “attention manager” as “a system that displays images to a user either when the user is not engaged in a primary interaction or in an area of the display screen that is not used by the user’s primary activity.” On remand, the district court found that the claims fail to recite patent-eligible subject matter, 35 U.S.C. 101. The Federal Circuit affirmed. The claims are directed to an abstract idea, presentation of two sets of information, in a nonoverlapping way, on a display screen. The claimed “attention manager,” broadly construed as any “system” for producing that result, is not limited to a means of locating space on the screen and displaying the second set of information in that space. The claim limitations for accessing, scheduling, and then displaying the second information set are conventional functions stated in general terms. The claims lack any arguable technical advance over conventional computer and network technology. View "Interval Licensing, LLC v. AOL, Inc." on Justia Law