In a recent ruling, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) declared that Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GmbH failed to establish its patent analyzing law firm client leads as anything more than an unpatentable abstract idea. This statement came on Monday, dealing a blow to the company’s efforts to secure a patent.
Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre, a global media and information firm offering intelligent information to the legal field, had been in pursuit of a patent for their method of analyzing client leads. But PTAB’s decision indicates that this attempted patent did not meet the required standards for a unique, non-abstract idea.
Given the potentially sweeping implications of this ruling for both news outlets and legal firms who work with lead analysis, further monitoring of this case could be vital for patent strategists within large corporations and law firms. The unfolding debate regarding what constitutes an ‘abstract idea’ within the context of patent law also continues to be an area of interest. For further reading, the complete account of PTAB’s ruling can be found at Law360.