Federal Circuit finds Generic Artificial Intelligence (AI) Claims Abstract

By all Means: When Software Functions Lack Correspnding Structure

by Dennis Crouch In a case highlighting the ongoing challenge of claim construction in software patents, the Federal Circuit has affirmed the district court’s determination that Fintiv’s asserted claims are invalid as indefinite. Fintiv, Inc. v. PayPal Holdings, Inc., No. 2023-2312 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 30, 2025).  In the software-element two-step, the court first held that the claim terms “payment handler” and “payment handler service” should be trea…

Federal Circuit finds Generic Artificial Intelligence (AI) Claims Abstract

PatentNext Summary: The Federal Circuit’s decision in Recentive Analytics, Inc. v. Fox Corp. found that applying generic machine learning techniques to a new environment, without a specific technological improvement, is patent-ineligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The court emphasized that claims must articulate concrete technological advancements rather than merely applying established methods to different domains. The ruling offers key guidance fo…