Real Estate Pricing System Ineligible for Patent Protection
Written September 18, 2018
On August 29, 2018, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that a computer system for creating and maintaining a massive database for the value of homes and displaying it on an online map is ineligible for patent protection. In
U.S. Patent Application No. 13/294,044 describes a computer system that distributes real estate information for display on a digital map. The system generates values for properties in a region that a user selects, then displays the values on a map with icons.
The court affirmed the Patent and Trademark Office’s rejection of Mario and Jose Villena’s application because it was an attempt to patent an abstract idea that lacked an inventive concept.