The PTAB Giveth, and the PTAB Taketh Away

The PTAB cancelled claims of a financing patent as lacking patentable subject matter in Westlake Services LLC v. Credit Acceptance Corp., CBM2014-00176 (PTAB January 25, 2016, Order) (McKone, APJ). Westlake is interesting because the challenged claims were previously upheld as patentable during a prior PTAB proceeding, but also prior to the Supreme Court’s Alice decision that changed the analysis for the patent eligibility of software patents. In this petition, Westlake Services made the most of their second bite at the apple and persuaded the PTAB to cancel the remaining claims of Credit Acceptance’s patent.

 

The patent at issue relates to a system for providing a financing package to a potential buyer of a vehicle. The system determines a set price the customer would pay for the vehicle, a down payment, and an agreement by the customer to pay the rest of the sales price with interest in a series of monthly payments.

 

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