Oral arguments were heard today at the CAFC for In re Bilski.  The CAFC had earlier ordered an en banc hearing of Bilksi to address the following questions:

(1)  Whether claim 1 of the [Bilski] patent application claims patent-eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101?
(2)  What standard should govern in determining whether a process is patent-eligible subject matter under section 101?
(3)  Whether the claimed subject matter is not patent-eligible because it constitutes an abstract idea or mental process; when does a claim that contains both mental and physical steps create patent-eligible subject matter?
(4) Whether a method or process must result in a physical transformation of an article or be tied to a machine to be patent-eligible subject matter under section 101?
(5) Whether it is appropriate to reconsider State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group, Inc., 149 F.3d 1368 (Fed. Cir. 1998), and AT&T Corp. v. Excel Communications, Inc., 172 F.3d 1352 (Fed. Cir. 1999), in this case and, if so, whether those cases should be overruled in any respect?

Gene Quinn at PLI attended the oral arguments, and has a great post on the conduct of the judges, the opposing parties, and the amici present for the arguments here.

Professor Crouch at Patently-O reads his tea leaves here.

Listen to the oral arguments here.

See our previous AT! post providing background on the case here.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,406: Method and apparatus for attracting insects.

I claim:

1. Process for attracting insects above one’s head comprising the steps of:
          a. securing a member coated or impregnated with an insect attractant to one end of a longitudinal member;
          b. clipping the other end of the longitudinal member onto a hat; and,
          c. spacing the coated member on said longitudinal member a substantial distance above said hat;
          d. placing the hat upon one’s head thus attracting said insects to a position substantially above one’s head.

2. Process of claim 1 wherein said insect attractant member is shaped as a golf ball.

3. Process of claim 1 wherein said insect attractant member is shaped as a beer bottle.

4. Process of claim 1 wherein said insect attractant member is shaped as an advertising card.

5. In combination, a hat and a insect attractant comprising:
          a. a hat including a half-spherical member for covering one’s head and secured about a hat rim; and,
          b. insect-attractant system including a elongated longitudinal member, a clip means at one end and substantially parallel to said longitudinal member, wherein said substantially parallel clip means comprises a first portion extending along a length of said longitudinal member, and a second portion extending in an opposite direction beyond said one end of said longitudinal member and engaged between adjustable bands of a hat, and a member with a coated or impregnated insect attractant at another end, whereby said clip secures said longitudinal member supporting said coated or impregnated member within said attractant to said hat.

6. Combination of claim 5 wherein said hat is a baseball cap with an adjustable strap in the rear of said hat.

7. Combination of claim 5 wherein said hat is a golf hat with an adjustable strap in the rear of said hat.

8. Combination of claim 5 wherein said hat is a fishing hat with an adjustable strap in the rear of said hat.

9. Combination of claim 5 wherein said member includes a reflective coating.

10. Combination of claim 5 wherein said member is in the shape of a flower for a female.

11. Insect-attractant system comprising:
          a. elongated longitudinal member;
          b. clip means secured at one end of said longitudinal member and substantially parallel to said longitudinal member, wherein said parallel clip means comprises a first portion extending along a length of said longitudinal member, and a second portion extending in an opposite direction beyond said one end of said longitudinal member and adapted for engagement between adjustable bands of a hat; and,
          c. insect attractant member secured at another end of said longitudinal member and coated or impregnated with a chemical to attract insects.

12. System of claim 11 wherein said upper end of said longitudinal member includes a fork means for securing an insert card coated or impregnated with insect attractant.

13. System of claim 11 wherein said upper end of said longitudinal member includes a head-encircling means for securing an insert card coated or impregnated with insect attractant.

14. In combination, a hat and an insect attractant system comprising:
          a. a heat including a half-spherical member for covering one’s head and secured about a hat rim; and
          b. insect-attractant system including an elongated longitudinal member, a clip means at one end and substantially parallel to said longitudinal member;
wherein said parallel clip means comprises a first portion extending along a length of said longitudinal member, and a second portion extending in an opposite direction beyond said one end of said longitudinal member and engaged between adjustable bands of a hat;
          and a member comprising a predetermined geometrical shape with a coated or impregnated insect attractant and with advertising material printed thereon, spaced at a substantial distance on said longitudinal member from another end; and,
          whereby said clip secures said longitudinal member, supporting said coated or impregnated member with said attractant, to said hat.

15. In combination, a hat and an insect attractant system comprising:
          a. a hat including a half-spherical member covering one’s head and secured about a hat rim; and,
          b. insect-attractant system including an elongate longitudinal member, a clip means at one end and substantially parallel to said longitudinal member;
          wherein said parallel clip means comprises a first portion extending along a length of said longitudinal member, and a second portion extending in an opposite direction beyond said one end of said longitudinal member and engaged between adjustable bands of a hat;
          and a member comprising a predetermined geometrical shape with a coated or impregnated insect attractant spaced at a substantial midpoint on said longitudinal member and an other end secured to a forward portion of said hat, by a securing means, forming an arcuate longitudinal member; and,
          whereby said clip secures said longitudinal member, supporting said coated or impregnated member with said attractant about a high point of said hat.

Per this recent press release at the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of China:

On August 25, Open Day of the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) of China, SIPO launched a patent information Chinese-to-English machine translation online service, Li Yuguang, Deputy Commissioner of SIPO attended a ceremony to celebrate the event.

SIPO launched the service to meet global demands for Chinese patent information. The service allows English language searching for the bibliographic data and abstracts of the published Chinese patent documents, on-the-fly machine translation English results of the searched fulltexts (claims, specifications) of inventions and utility models will be provided as a helpful way for browsing Chinese patent documents.

The first launch of the patent information machine translation service is mainly for test purpose with an aim to collect users’ feedback during their use, which is of crucial importance for the further improvement of the machine translation readability. Technologies supporting the service are mainly developed by the China Patent Information Center (CPIC), a subsidiary organization of the SIPO.

The new database may be accessed here.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,748:  TV control device.

What is claimed is:

1. A TV control device for rotating a dial of a TV set, from an area distant from the set, said TV control device comprising
          a rod-like member of variable adjustable length having a handle at one end, said rod-like member being independent from a TV set and comprising a plurality of telescoped sections and fastening means for releasably affixing the sections in position relative to each other, each of the sections of the rod-like member being of substantially hollow rectangular configuration;
          a head part detachably secured at the opposite end of the rod-like member for cooperating with the dial of a TV set in a manner whereby a user in an area distant from the set selectively rotates the dial via the rod-like member, said head part being independent from a TV set but removably coupleable to a dial thereof and comprising a pair of spaced spring-like clamping heads for gripping the periphery of a dial, and a second detachable head post having a pair of opposed radially extending flat ears for cooperating with the slots of a dial.

2. A TV control device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sections of the rod-like member are perforated.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,983,493: Retractable table top for a toilet.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for providing a working surface while a user is seated on a toilet, said device comprising:
          a table having substantially planar top and bottom surfaces and a centrally disposed longitudinal axis, said table including a plurality of opposed edge portions equally spaced from the axis and extending substantially parallel thereto, said table further including a plurality of opposed end portions integral with said plurality of edge portions, said table further including a plurality of elongated legs having opposed end portions attached thereto and engageable with a ground surface respectively, said table further having a plurality of elongated support rods secured to said bottom surface and adjacent said plurality of end portions respectively; and
         a support member positionable on alternate sides of a toilet seat and comprising
         a rear end portion securable to a wall adjacent a toilet and extending outwardly and forwardly therefrom, and
         a telescopic front end portion connected to said rear end portion and being extendable along a substantially horizontal plane, said front end portion being removably attachable to one said plurality of support rods so that said table can be selectively moved between up and down positions and pivoted thereabout.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein said plurality legs are pivotally connected to said lower surface of said table and movable between folded and extended positions.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein said support member further comprises: a bracket having front and rear surfaces connected to said rear end portion and a wall respectively.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein said front end portion of said support member further comprises:a female portion and a male portion slidably engageable therein along a substantially parallel path so that said table can be telescopically extended between retracted and extended positions.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein said rear end portion of said support member comprises: a pair of spaced arms extending outwardly therefrom and along a horizontal plane and for receiving said table therebetween during non-operating conditions.

6. A device for providing a working surface while a user is seated on a toilet, said device comprising:

         a table having substantially planar top and bottom surfaces and a centrally disposed longitudinal axis, said table including a plurality of opposed edge portions equally spaced from the axis and extending substantially parallel thereto, said table further including a plurality of opposed end portions integral with said plurality of edge portions, said table further including a plurality of elongated legs having opposed end portions attached thereto and engageable with a ground surface respectively, said plurality of legs being pivotally connected to said lower surface of said table and movable between folded and extended positions, said table further having a plurality of elongated support rods secured to said bottom surface and adjacent said plurality of end portions respectively; and
          a support member positionable on alternate sides of a toilet seat and comprising
a rear end portion securable to a wall adjacent a toilet and extending outwardly and forwardly therefrom, and
          a telescopic front end portion connected to said rear end portion and being extendable along a substantially horizontal plane, said front end portion being removably attachable to one said plurality of support rods so that said table can be selectively moved between up and down positions and pivoted thereabout.

7. The device of claim 6, wherein said support member further comprises: a bracket having front and rear surfaces connected to said rear end portion and a wall respectively.

8. The device of claim 6, wherein said front end portion of said support member further comprises: a female portion and a male portion slidably engageable therein along a substantially parallel path so that said table can be telescopically extended between retracted and extended positions.

9. The device of claim 6, wherein said rear end portion of said support member comprises: a pair of spaced arms extending outwardly therefrom and along a horizontal plane and for receiving said table therebetween during non-operating conditions.

10. A device for providing a working surface while a user is seated on a toilet, said device comprising:

          a table having substantially planar top and bottom surfaces and a centrally disposed longitudinal axis, said table including a plurality of opposed edge portions equally spaced from the axis and extending substantially parallel thereto, said table further including a plurality of opposed end portions integral with said plurality of edge portions, said table further including a plurality of elongated legs having opposed end portions attached thereto and engageable with a ground surface respectively, said plurality of legs being pivotally connected to said lower surface of said table and movable between folded and extended positions, said table further having a plurality of elongated support rods secured to said bottom surface and adjacent said plurality of end portions respectively; and
          a support member positionable on alternate sides of a toilet seat and comprising
          a rear end portion securable to a wall adjacent a toilet and extending outwardly and forwardly therefrom, said rear end portion including a bracket having front and rear surfaces connected to said rear end portion and a wall respectively, and
          a telescopic front end portion connected to said rear end portion and being extendable along a substantially horizontal plane, said front end portion being removably attachable to one said plurality of support rods so that said table can be selectively moved between up and down positions and pivoted thereabout.

11. The device of claim 10, wherein said front end portion of said support member further comprises: a female portion and a male portion slidably engageable therein along a substantially parallel path so that said table can be telescopically extended between retracted and extended positions.

12. The device of claim 10, wherein said rear end portion of said support member comprises:  a pair of spaced arms extending outwardly therefrom and along a horizontal plane and for receiving said table therebetween during non-operating conditions.