A method for calculating an absolute position of a GPS receiver and an absolute time of reception of satellite signals comprising:
providing pseudoranges that estimate the range of the GPS receiver to a plurality of GPS satellites;
providing an estimate of an absolute time of reception of a plurality of satellite signals;
providing an estimate of a position of the GPS receiver;
providing satellite ephemeris data;
computing absolute position and absolute time using said pseudoranges by updating said estimate of an absolute time and the estimate of position of the GPS receiver.
巡迴法院先就GPS接收器進行討論,根據In re Bilski,若所主張之方法項 (1) 綁定 (is tied to) 特定的機器或設備,或者 (2) 將特定的標的轉換為不同的狀態或事物,則該方法項適格;而且根據Prometheus Labs., Inc. v. Mayo Collaborative Servs一案的解釋,使用特定機器或對標的進行轉換必須賦予請求項的範圍有意義的限制,方具備適格性。
A method of detecting events on an interconnected electric power grid in real time over a wide area and automatically analyzing the events on the interconnected electric power grid, the method comprising:
receiving a plurality of data streams, each of the data streams comprising sub-second, time stamped synchronized phasor measurements wherein the measurements in each stream are collected in real time at geographically distinct points over the wide area…;
receiving data from other power system data sources, …;
receiving data from a plurality of non-grid data sources;
detecting and analyzing events in real-time from the plurality of data streams …;
displaying the event analysis results and diagnoses of events …;
displaying concurrent visualization of measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics directed to the wide area of the interconnected electric power grid;
accumulating and updating the measurements from the data streams and the dynamic stability metrics, grid data, and non-grid data in real time as to wide area and local area portions of the interconnected electric power grid; and
PEG Oct update指出,審查員可以用說明書做為基礎來決定請求項是否其實是被界定為某種概念,若僅是1. 在一個通用的電腦上執行此概念;2. 在電腦環境下執行此概念;或3. 電腦只是執行此概念的工具,至少在這些狀況,請求項將會被判斷為引述心智活動。例如,在Voter Verified, Inc. v. Election Systems & Software LLC中,投票、驗票、以表格統計票數,僅是人類認知上的行為,就算以電腦執行仍不改其本質。
即使是物之請求項,如電腦系統、電腦可讀媒體等,仍有可能屬於引述心智活動,Mortgage Grader, Inc. v. First Choice Loan Servs., Inc.一案中的系爭請求項就是典型,其為一種由電腦實施的系統,令借款人能夠匿名購買由數個貸款方提供的貸款組合 (loan package),請求項包括了儲存來自貸款方的貸款組合數據的數據庫,以及提供介面和分級模組的電腦系統。巡迴法院認為這樣的系統屬於抽象概念,因為它可以僅由人力所執行。
(三) 紙筆協助下人類執行之步驟的請求項亦屬引述心智活動
PEG Oct update進一步指出,即便使用物理輔助工具,例如紙筆,協助執行心智活動的步驟,仍不能使這樣的請求項跳脫出心智活動的範疇。CyberSource Corp. v. Retail Decisions, Inc. 一案即為適例,其中爭執的步驟在於「構建信用卡號的地圖 (constructing a map of credit card numbers)」,法院認為這個限縮條件可以由人類通過「寫下從特定IP位置進行的信用卡交易的列表」而被執行。雖然以「可以被心智執行,或者藉由筆紙執行」作為請求項限制條件的方法被視為心智活動,但若請求項限制條件「實際上無法全然地以心智執行」(即便使用物理輔助工具),那麼這個請求項限制條件就並非引述心智活動。
暫定的抽象概念
2019 PEG中提出了對「暫定的抽象概念」的處理程序(Tentative Abstract Idea Procedure),各方對USPTO提出了各種意見,例如:若該程序一旦被啟動,大眾是否會被通知;申請與科技中心的主管面談是否會被准許。關於這些問題,USPTO在PEG Oct update提出進一步的說明。