Federal Circuit Axes Graphical Processing Patent Under Alice

On December 29, 2020, the Federal Circuit issued its opinion in Simio v. Flexim Software (available here), deeming the patent-in-suit ineligible for patenting under the Supreme Court’s Alice decision. Under Alice Step 1, the Court held that the patent’s key advance—“using graphics instead of programming to create object-oriented simulations”—has been done since the 1980s and 1990s. Accordingly, “[s]imply applying the already-widespread practice of using graphics instead of programming to the environment of object-oriented simulations is no more than an abstract idea.” (emphasis in original). Under Alice Step 2, the Court held that the elements of the claim were not enough to transform the nature of the claim into a patent-eligible application. The necessary inventive concept was not present because the abstract idea itself cannot supply the inventive concept.