Federal Circuit Again Addresses Patent-Eligibility Of Internet-Centric Claims

On Dec. 5, 2014, a divided Federal Circuit panel held that claims directed to systems and methods of generating a composite Web page combining certain visual elements of a “host” website with content of a third-party merchant were “necessarily rooted in computer technology in order to overcome a problem specifically arising in the realm of computer networks,” and, therefore, were patent-eligible under 35 U.S.C. '101. DDR Holdings, LLC v. Hotels.com, L.P., Docket No. 13-1505. However, the court cautioned that not all claims addressing Internet-centric challenges are patent-eligible. Further, Judge Mayer, dissenting, argued that the claims “simply describe an abstract concept ' that an online merchant's sales can be increased if two web pages have the same 'look and feel' ' and apply that concept using a generic computer.” Accordingly, the patent-eligibility of Internet-centric claims remains unsettled.