Full opinion text
MEMORANDUM OPINION ROSEMARY M. COLLYER, District Judge. CLS Bank International moves for summary judgment, contending that all patent claims asserted by Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. in this case are invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101 for lack of patentable subject matter. Alice cross-moves for partial summary judgment, arguing that its asserted claims are directed to patent-eligible subject matter. Before the Court are claims 33 and 34 of U.S. Patent No. 5,970,479, and every claim of U.S. Patent No. 6,912,510; U.S. Patent No. 7,149,720; and U.S. Patent No. 7,725,375. For the reasons set out below, the Court finds each of the claims at issue to be directed to unpatentable subject matter and will grant summary judgment in full to CLS. I. FACTS A. The Patents Alice is an Australian company that owns four United States patents; it asserts that CLS infringes these four patents. CLS is an “Edge Act Corporation,” organized under Section 25A of the Federal Reserve Act, as amended, 12 U.S.C. § 611, and authorized by statute to engage in international banking activities. In response to Alice’s charge of infringement, CLS challenges the subject matter patent-ability of the asserted claims of the four patents. Alice’s four patents at issue are: (1) U.S. Patent No. 7,149,720 (“'720 Patent”); (2) U.S. Patent No. 6,912,510 (“'510 Patent”); (3) U.S. Patent No. 5,970,479 (“'479 Patent”); and U.S. Patent No. 7,725,375 (“'375 Patent”) (collectively the “Patents”). The relevant claims of the '479 and '510 Patents are directed to a method (i.e., process), while the claims of the '720 and '375 Patents are directed to a system or product. The Court has not construed the allegedly infringed claims. In the early 1990’s, the founder of Alice, Ian Shepherd, invented an “innovative trading platform” which entailed a “computerized system for the establishment, settlement, and administration of financial instruments, principally of basic derivatives, that would solve problems inherent in the way such trading had been done in the past.” Alice Mem. in Supp. of Mot. for Summ. J. & Opp’n [Dkts. ## 95, 96] 4 (“Alice Mem.”). One aspect of the trading platform is “an automated method and system for eliminating counter-party risk when parties who were often unknown to each other and in different time zones wanted to exchange payments.” Id. The “electronic settlement mechanism [] settled trades without the risk that one party would perform and the other would not.” Id. Alice’s expert, Paul Ginsberg, explains that the Patents “disclose and claim in various ways a novel computerized trading platform for exchanging obligations in which a trusted third party, running a computer system programmed in a specific way, settles parties’ obligations so as to eliminate what is variously referred to as ‘Herstatt,’ ‘counterparty,’ or ‘settlement’ risk — the risk that only one party’s obligation will be paid, leaving the other party without its principal.” Id. 4-5 (citing Alice Mem., [Ex. 1] Ginsberg Decl. ¶¶ 23-24). “The trusted third party — a ‘supervisory institution’ — operates a data processing system that exchanges both parties’ obligations or neither.” Id. at 5. Mr. Ginsberg elucidates the risk the Patents are intended to mitigate. “When obligations arise from a trade made between two parties, e.g., a trade of stock or a trade of foreign currency, typically, there is a gap in time between when the obligation arises and when the trade is ‘settled.’ ” Ginsberg Decl. ¶ 21. “In a number of financial contexts, the process of exchanging obligations, or settlement, is separate from the process of entering into a contract to perform a trade.” Id. Mr. Ginsberg provides the example of two banks that wish to exchange large sums of currency would normally enter into a binding agreement to make an enumerated exchange but would postpone the actual exchange until after the price is set and the agreement confirmed, which is typically a two day period. Id. ¶ 22. After two days, the two banks would “settle” the trade by both paying their predetermined amounts to the other bank. However, a risk exists that one bank might wire its money, but the second bank would fail to do the same; the loss possibly becoming permanent, for instance, if the second bank thereafter goes bankrupt or is shut down by regulators. Id. ¶ 23. The Patent claims at issue here seek to minimize this “settlement” risk that only one side of a trade would be fulfilled during the settlement process. Id. “Generally speaking, a trusted third party might operate a computer system that is configured in a particular way to exchange the parties’ obligations, and by performing the particular electronic method using that computer system, can lessen settlement risk.” Id. ¶ 24. Therefore, Mr. Ginsberg reads the asserted claims of the four Patents to be “generally directed to methods or systems that help lessen settlement risk using a computer system.” Id. Very broadly speaking, the process claims are directed to methods of exchanging financial obligations between parties while the system claims relate to data processing systems to implement the steps of exchanging obligations and the computer product claims enable a computer to send a transaction to the system to be implemented and allow a user to view the steps of exchanging obligations being performed. 1. '479 Patent The '479 Patent is entitled “Methods and Apparatus Relating to the Formulation and Trading of Risk Management Contracts.” See CLS Mem. in Supp. of Mot. for Summ. J. [Dkt. #94] (“CLS Mem.”), [Ex. 1] '479 Patent. The application for the '479 Patent was filed on May 28, 1993, and the Patent issued on October 19, 1999. The '479 Patent, at large, allegedly “discloses a complex computer-based system and various electronic methods for formulating risk management contracts, trading the contracts, and exchanging the resulting obligations.” Ginsberg Decl. ¶ 25. The specification discloses: The invention encompasses methods and apparatus enabling the management of risk relating to specified, yet unknown, future events by enabling entities (parties) to reduce their exposure to specified risks by constructing compensatory claim contract orders on yet-to-be-identified counter-parties, being contingent on the occurrence of the specified future events. The entities submit such orders to a ‘system’ which seeks to price and match the most appropriate counter-party, whereupon matched contracts are appropriately processed through to their maturity. Therefore, the invention enables parties to manage perceived risk in respect of known, yet non-predictable, possible future events. '479 Patent, col. 3:29-42. The disclosure of the '479 Patent reveals an invention that, as a whole, appears to be directed to a seemingly complex trading platform which facilitates a wide array of parties to come together and enter into contracts to hedge against future risks of all sorts; the system allows parties to trade such contracts already entered into, the system manages contracts until maturity, and the system provides for the transfer or exchange of entitlements or payments once they arise. Only claims 33 and 34 of the '479 Patent are at issue in this matter. These two claims are directed to a “method of exchanging obligations” between parties, and in their entirety, they claim: 33. A method of exchanging obligations as between parties, each party holding a credit record and a debit record with an exchange institution, the credit records and debit records for exchange of predetermined obligations, the method comprising the steps of: (a) creating a shadow credit record and a shadow debit record for each stakeholder party to be held independently by a supervisory institution from the exchange institutions; (b) obtaining from each exchange institution a start-of-day balance for each shadow credit record and shadow debit record; (c) for every transaction resulting in an exchange obligation, the supervisory institution adjusting each respective party’s shadow credit record or shadow debit record, allowing only these transactions that do not result in the value of the shadow debit record being less than the value of the shadow credit record at any time, each said adjustment taking place in chronological order; and (d) at the end-of-day, the supervisory institution instructing ones of the exchange institutions to exchange credits or debits to the credit record and debit record of the respective parties in accordance with the adjustments of the said permitted transactions, the credits and debits being 'irrevocable, time invariant obligations placed on the exchange institutions. 34. The method as in claim 33, wherein the end-of-day instructions represent credits and debits netted throughout the day for each party in respect of all the transactions of that day. '479 Patent, col. 65:23-54. Both claims recite a “shadow credit record,” a “shadow debit record,” and a “transaction.” See, e.g., id. col. 65:27, 33 (Claim 33). The methods in claims 33 and 34 relate to just one feature of the entire invention disclosed in the '479 Patent, see Ginsberg Decl. ¶ 26; a concluding step of sorts, when contracted-for obligations become ripe and are exchanged. See '479 Patent, col. 5:61-63 (noting the invention “also encompasses apparatus and method dealing with the handling of contracts at maturity, and specifically the transfer of entitlement”). The '479 Patent was the first of the Patents to issue and the inventions disclosed by the '510, '720, and '375 Patents are continuations of the '479 Patent which, with only minor differences, share a common specification. See Ginsberg Decl. ¶ 25; Alice Mem. 4. 2. '510 Patent The '510 Patent is entitled “Methods of Exchanging an Obligation.” See CLS Mem., [Ex. 2] '510 Patent. The application for the '510 Patent was filed on May 9, 2000, and it issued on June 28, 2005. Each of the 75 claims of the '510 Patent is directed to a particular method of exchanging an obligation. For instance, claim 1 of the '510 Patent is directed to: 1. A method of exchanging an obligation between parties, wherein an exchange obligation is administered by a supervisory institution, and wherein at least one credit record and one debit record is, maintained with an exchange institution, the method comprising: (a) maintaining a shadow credit record and a shadow debit record for a party to be held independently by the supervisory institution from the exchange institution; (b) for every transaction resulting in an exchange obligation, the supervisory institution electronically adjusting said shadow credit record and/or shadow debit record, allowing only those transactions that do not result in a value of said shadow debit record being less than a value of said shadow credit record; and (c)at the end of a period of time, the supervisory institution providing an instruction to the exchange institution to credit and/or debit in accordance with said adjustments of said allowed transactions, wherein said instruction being an irrevocable, time invariant obligation placed on the exchange institution. '510 Patent, col. 64:2-21. Each of the five independent claims — claims 1, 27, 61, 65, and 68 — of the '510 Patent calls for “electronically adjusting” records or accounts. Id. col. 64:11-12 (Claim 1); id. col. 65:25-26 (Claim 27); id. col. 66:63-64 (Claim 61); id. col. 67:24-25 (Claim 65); id. col. 68:7 (Claim 68). An exchange of obligations, however defined, is the stated purpose of the methods claimed in the '510 Patent claims and claims 33 and 34 of the '479 Patent. Alice argues that claims 33 and 34 of the '479 Patent and every claim of the '510 Patent are implemented electronically using a computer coupled to a data storage method. See Ginsberg Decl. ¶¶ 28-43. CLS disputes that these methods directly or indirectly claim the use of a computer. 3. '720 Patent The '720 Patent is entitled “Systems for Exchanging an Obligation.” CLS Mem., [Ex. 3] '720 Patent. The application for the '720 Patent was filed on December 31, 2002, and it issued on December 12, 2006. Each claim of the '720 Patent, claims 1-84, is directed to a particular data processing system. As a representative example, claim 1 of the '720 Patent is directed to: 1. A data processing system to enable the exchange of an obligation between parties, the system comprising: (a) data storage unit having stored therein information about a shadow credit record and shadow debit record for a party, independent from a credit record and debit record maintained by an exchange institution; and (a) [sic] computer, coupled to said data storage unit, that is configured to (a) receive a transaction; (b) electronically adjust said shadow credit record and/or said shadow debit record in order to effect an exchange obligation arising from said transaction, allowing only those transactions that do not result in a value of said shadow debit record being less than a value of said shadow credit record; and (c) generate an instruction to said exchange institution at the end of a period of time to adjust said credit record and/or said debit record in accordance with the adjustment of said shadow credit record and/or said shadow debit record, wherein said instruction being an irrevocable, time invariant obligation placed on said exchange institution. '720 Patent, col. 65:42-61. Each of the six independent claims — claims 1, 28, 60, 64, 68, and 80 — of the '720 Patent recites “a data storage unit having stored therein” information about accounts or records, and a “computer, coupled to said data storage unit,” that is “configured” to perform certain steps. See id. col. 65:42-61 (Claim 1); id. col. 67:1-18 (Claim 28); id. col. 68:33-53 (Claim 60); id. col. 68:62-66 & col. 69:1— 11 (Claim 64); id. col. 69:20-42 (Claim 68); id. col. 70:20-37 (Claim 80). 4. '375 Patent The '375 Patent is entitled “Systems and Computer Program Products for Exchanging an Obligation.” CLS Mem., [Ex. 4] '375 Patent. The application leading to the '375 Patent was filed on June 27, 2005, and it issued on May 25, 2010. Claims 1-38 and 42-47 of the '375 Patent are directed to data processing systems which enable the exchange of an obligation. As with the '720 Patent claims, the three independent system claims — claims 1, 14, and 26-of the '375 Patent each requires “a data storage unit having stored therein” information about accounts or records, and a “computer, coupled to said data storage unit,” that is “configured” to perform certain steps. See '375 Patent, col. 65:1-30 (Claim 1); id. col. 66:1-29 (Claim 14); id. col. 66:61-65 & col. 67:1-26 (Claim 26). The '375 Patent incorporates additional elements to the systems claimed in the '720 Patent. For instance, independent claim 1 further recites a “first party device,” id. col. 65:4, claim 12 adds a “second party device,” id. col. 65:62, and claim 14 recites a “communications controller.” Id. col. 66:3. Independent claim 39 and claims 40 and 41, which depend from claim 39, of the '375 Patent are, on the other hand, directed to computer program products containing particular program code. Claim 39 of the '375 Patent is directed to: 39. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied in the medium for use by a party to exchange an obligation between a first party and a second party, the computer program product comprising: program code for causing a computer to send a transaction from said first party relating to an exchange obligation arising from a currency exchange transaction between said first party and said second party; and program code for causing a computer to allow viewing of information relating to processing, by a supervisory institution, of said exchange obligation, wherein said processing includes (1) maintaining information about a first account for the first party, independent from a second account maintained by a first exchange institution, and information about a third account for the second party, independent from a fourth account maintained by a second exchange institution; (2) electronically adjusting said first account and said third account, in order to effect an exchange obligation arising from said transaction between said first party and said second party, after ensuring that said first party and/or said second party have adequate value in said first account and/or said third account, respectively; and (3) generating an instruction to said first exchange institution and/or said second exchange institution to adjust said second account and/or said fourth account in accordance with the adjustment of said first account and/or said third account, wherein said instruction being an irrevocable, time invariant obligation placed on said first exchange institution and/or said second exchange institution. Id. col. 68:5-35. Thus, each of the three product claims asserts a “computer readable storage medium” and “computer readable program code embodied in the medium.” Id. col. 68:5-7 (Claim 39). B. Procedural History On May 24, 2007, CLS brought suit against Alice, seeking a declaratory judgment of non-infringement, patent invalidity, and patent unenforceability under the Patent Act, 35 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., and the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201, 2202. On August 16, 2007, Alice counter claimed that CLS was infringing three of its patents: the '479, '510, and '720 Patents. By agreement of the parties, initial discovery commenced on the question of (1) the operation of CLS Bank International, and (2) CLS Bank International’s relationship with the CLS system. In March 2009, CLS moved for summary judgment on the basis that (a) any patent infringement by CLS could not be said to be occurring within the United States and (b) Alice’s claims lacked patentable subject matter eligibility. Alice opposed and cross-moved on both issues. As for extraterritoriality, on October 13, 2009, 667 F.Supp.2d 29 (D.D.C.2009), the Court denied CLS’s motion, finding that U.S. patent laws reached CLS’s alleged infringing acts since CLS both “uses” its CLS Core System and “offers to sell, or sells” its methods within the United States. The Court also denied without prejudice Alice’s cross-motion as premature since it sought a declaration of infringement. See Redacted Mem. Op. & Order [Dkt. ## 79, 78]. The Court then certified CLS’s immediate appeal, but the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied CLS’s request for an interlocutory appeal. See Federal Circuit Order [Dkt. # 87]. On June 16, 2009, the Court denied without prejudice the cross-motions on subject matter eligibility on the grounds that the Supreme Court had granted certiorari in In re Bilski, 545 F.Sd 943 (Fed.Cir.2008) (en banc) (“Bilski I”), upon which the parties had relied heavily in their briefing. The Court ordered re-filing for after the Supreme Court issued its decision. See Minute Entry Order 6/16/2009. After the Supreme Court issued Bilski v. Kappos, — U.S. -, 130 S.Ct. 3218, 177 L.Ed.2d 792 (2010) (“Bilski II”), the parties renewed their briefs. Further, on August 5, 2010, the Court granted Alice leave to file an amended answer containing an additional counterclaim charging CLS with infringement of its '375 Patent, which had only been issued three months prior. Briefing on the question of whether Alice’s claims at issue in this litigation are directed to patent eligible subject matter under the Patent Act is now ripe, after oral argument was held on January 14, 2011. II. LEGAL STANDARD A. Summary Judgment Under Rule 56 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, summary judgment shall be granted “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgement as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a); Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 247, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Moreover, summary judgment is properly granted against a party who “after adequate time for discovery and upon motion ... fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of an element essential to that party’s case, and on which that party will bear the burden of proof at trial.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). In ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the court must draw all justifiable inferences in the nonmoving party’s favor and accept the nonmoving party’s evidence as true. Anderson, 477 U.S. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505. A nonmoving party, however, must establish more than “the mere existence of a scintilla of evidence” in support of its position. Id. at 252, 106 S.Ct. 2505. In addition, the nonmoving party may not rely solely on allegations or conclusory statements. Greene v. Dalton, 164 F.3d 671, 675 (D.C.Cir.1999). Rather, the non-moving party must present specific facts that would enable a reasonable jury to find in its favor. Id. at 675. If the evidence “is merely colorable, or is not significantly probative, summary judgment may be granted.” Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (citations omitted). B. Subject Matter Eligibility under the Patent Act Section 101 of the Patent Act delineates which inventions are patentable: “Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.” 35 U.S.C. § 101. Congress created four independent categories of inventions or discoveries that are eligible for patent protection: processes, machines, manufactures, and compositions of matter. A “process” is defined in the Patent Act as a “process, art or method, and includes a new use of a known process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or material.” Id. § 100(b). The Supreme Court has described a “process” as follows: That a process may be patentable, irrespective of the particular form of the instrumentalities used, cannot be disputed.... A process is a mode of treatment of certain materials to produce a given result. It is an act, or a series of acts, performed upon the subject-matter to be transformed and reduced to a different state or thing. If new and useful, it is just as patentable as is a piece of machinery. In the language of the patent law, it is an art. The machinery pointed out as suitable to perform the process may or may not be new or patentable; whilst the process itself may be altogether new, and produce an entirely new result. The process requires that certain things should be done with certain substances, and in a certain order; but the tools to be used in doing this may be of secondary consequence. Diamond v. Diehr, 450 U.S. 175, 182-83, 101 S.Ct. 1048, 67 L.Ed.2d 155 (1981) (quoting Cochrane v. Deener, 94 U.S. 780, 787-88, 24 L.Ed. 139 (1877)). By writing § 101 in expansive terms, “Congress plainly contemplated that the patent laws would be given wide scope.” Diamond v. Chakrabarty, 447 U.S. 303, 308, 100 S.Ct. 2204, 65 L.Ed.2d 144 (1980). “Congress took this permissive approach to patent eligibility to ensure that ingenuity should receive a liberal encouragement.” Bilski II, 130 S.Ct. at 3225 (internal quotation marks omitted); In re Comiskey, 554 F.3d 967, 977 (Fed.Cir.2009) (recognizing that patentable subject matter under § 101 is “extremely broad”). In fact, the Supreme Court has “more than once cautioned that courts should not read into the patent laws limitations and conditions which the legislature has not expressed.” Bilski II, 130 S.Ct. at 3226 (quoting Diehr, 450 U.S. at 182, 101 S.Ct. 1048 (internal quotation marks omitted)). The Supreme Court has enunciated three exceptions to the Patent Act’s broad subject matter eligibility framework: “laws of nature, physical phenomena, and abstract ideas.” Bilski II, 130 S.Ct. at 3225 (quoting Chakrabarty, 447 U.S. at 309, 100 S.Ct. 2204). Thus, even if an invention appears to nominally claim subject matter that would be statutorily covered by the Patent Act, it will be denied patent protection if it falls into one of the “fundamental principles” exceptions, i.e. a law pf nature, natural phenomena, and/or an abstract idea, which have been expounded by the Supreme Court in Gottschalk v. Benson, 409 U.S. 63, 93 S.Ct. 253, 34 L.Ed.2d 273 (1972), Parker v. Flook, 437 U.S. 584, 98 S.Ct. 2522, 57 L.Ed.2d 451 (1978), Diehr, 450 U.S. 175, 101 S.Ct. 1048, and most recently Bilski II, 130 S.Ct. 3218. An underlying reason for these exceptions is that “[pjhenomena of nature, though just discovered, mental processes, and abstract intellectual concepts are not patentable, as they are the basic tools of scientific and technological work.” Benson, 409 U.S. at 67, 93 S.Ct. 253; accord Diehr, 450 U.S. at 185, 101 S.Ct. 1048 (“A principle, in the abstract, is a fundamental truth; an original cause; a motive; these cannot be patented, as no one can claim in either of them an exclusive right.”) (citation omitted). Although the “fundamental principles” exceptions are not statutory, the Supreme Court has found them to be consistent with the requirement that a patentable invention be “new and useful.” Bilski II, 130 S.Ct. at 3225 (citing 35 U.S.C. § 101). The Supreme Court recently emphasized that a lower court should be attentive to the “guideposts” of Benson, Flook, and Diehr when considering these exceptions to subject matter patentability. Id. at 3231. In 1972, the Benson Court held that a method of programming a computer to convert binary-coded decimal numerals to their equivalent pure binary numerals was not a “process” as covered by the Patent Act. The Court found the method truly claimed an “algorithm,” as it represented a general formulation for computers to solve the mathematical problem of converting one numerical representation to another, which merely constituted an algorithm from which specific applications could be developed. Benson, 409 U.S. at 65, 93 S.Ct. 253. The Court held that the Benson patent would preempt the use of the algorithm by others as the claim could cover known and future unknown uses of the code conversion formula in many different fields and for many different purposes, and effectively preempt its use in existing machinery, future-devised machinery, or no machinery at all. Id. at 68, 93 S.Ct. 253. The Court also found that the computer failed to limit the invention since the algorithm had no practical application except in connection with a computer; therefore a patent on the invention served as a patent on the algorithm itself. Id. at 71-2, 93 S.Ct. 253. In 1978, the Flook Court rejected another patent because it was directed to unpatentable subject matter, another algorithm, although the patent contained greater limitations and entailed a more specific application than the patent in Benson. The Flook patent concerned monitoring conditions during catalytic conversion processes in the petrochemical and oil-refining industries, and the claims were directed to a method of computing an alarm limit, which is the point at which catalytic conversion conditions can produce inefficiencies or danger. The Court recognized that the only novel part of the method was that it employed a new mathematical formula for calculating and/or updating the alarm limit, and that the invention really claimed the algorithm itself. Flook, 437 U.S. at 585-86, 98 S.Ct. 2522. That the claims were limited to the petrochemical and oil-refining industries and would therefore not preempt the wholesale use of the algorithm was insufficient to render the claims patentable. Id. at 589-90, 98 S.Ct. 2522. Likewise, the methods were not saved by the “post-solution” activity of adjusting the actual alarm limit based on the results of the algorithm since a “competent draftsman could attach some form of post-solution activity to almost any mathematical formula.” Id. at 590, 98 S.Ct. 2522 In 1981, the Supreme Court colored the outer limits of the fundamental principles exceptions in Diehr, in which the Court upheld the subject matter eligibility of a claim to a process for producing cured synthetic rubber products. While the invention employed a well-known mathematical formula in one of its steps, the patent did not seek to preempt the use of the formula itself, but only preempt its use in conjunction with all the other steps in the claimed method. Diehr, 450 U.S. at 187, 101 S.Ct. 1048. Admittedly, the mathematical formula would not be patentable on its own, “but when a process for curing rubber is devised which incorporates in it a more efficient solution of the equation, that process is at the very least not barred at the threshold by § 101.” Id. at 188, 101 S.Ct. 1048. The Court distinguished Flook by explaining: “We were careful to note in Flook that the patent application did not purport to explain how the variables used in the formula were to be selected, nor did the application contain any disclosure relating to chemical processes at work or the means of setting off an alarm or adjusting the alarm limit. All the application provided was a ‘formula for computing an updated alarm limit.’ ” Id. at 192 n. 14, 101 S.Ct. 1048 (internal citations omitted). Most recently, in 2010, the Supreme Court found a business method unpatentable as directed to an abstract idea. See Bilski II, 130 S.Ct. at 3231. The Bilski II Court invalidated process claims generally directed to instructing buyers and sellers how to hedge risk and how to apply the methods to the energy commodities market. Id. The Court pointed out that hedging is a “fundamental economic practice long prevalent in our system of commerce and taught in any introductory finance class.” Id. (citation omitted). “Allowing petitioners to patent risk hedging would pre-empt use of this approach in all fields, and would effectively grant a monopoly over an abstract idea.” Id. The Court also found the dependent claims applying the methods of hedging risk to the energy commodities market unpatentable as vain attempts to limit an fundamental concept to a particular field of use or to add post-solution components. Id. The Court found that the patent claims “attempt to patent the use of the abstract idea of hedging risk in the energy market and then instruct the use of well-known random analysis techniques to help establish some of the inputs into the equation.” Id. In fact, “these claims add even less to the underlying abstract principle than the invention in Flook did, for the Flook invention was at least directed to the narrower domain of signaling dangers in operating a catalytic converter.” Id. While an abstract idea in itself is not patentable, a claim “is not unpatentable simply because it contains a law of nature or a mathematical algorithm.” Flook, 437 U.S. at 590, 98 S.Ct. 2522. “It is now commonplace that an application of a law of nature or mathematical formula to a known structure or process may well be deserving of patent protection.” Diehr, 450 U.S. at 187, 101 S.Ct. 1048 (emphasis in original); id. at 192, 101 S.Ct. 1048 (“[W]hen a claim containing a mathematical formula implements or applies that formula in a structure or process which, when considered as a whole, is performing a function which the patent laws were designed to protect (e.g., transforming or reducing an article to a different state or thing), then the claim satisfies the requirements of § 101.”). It is also clear that when a court examines whether a claim is directed to an abstract idea, the court must view each claim as a whole. “In determining the eligibility of respondents’ claimed process for patent protection under § 101, their claims must be considered as a whole ... This is particularly true in a process claim because a new combination of steps in a process may be patentable even though all the constituents of the combination were well known and in common use before the combination was made.” Diehr, 450 U.S. at 188, 101 S.Ct. 1048; see also King Pharms., Inc. v. Eon Labs., Inc., 616 F.3d 1267, 1277 (Fed.Cir.2010) (reasserting that “ § 101 patentability analysis is directed to the claim as a whole, not individual limitations” within the claim). There is no clear definition of what constitutes an abstract idea; instead, courts analogize from the standards etched out by the cases just discussed. As the Federal Circuit recently acknowledged, “the Supreme Court did not presume to provide a rigid formula or definition for abstractness.” Research Corp. Techs. v. Microsoft Corp., 627 F.3d 859, 868 (Fed.Cir.2010) (citing Bilski II, 130 S.Ct. at 3238). The Federal Circuit declined to “presume to define ‘abstract’ beyond the recognition that this disqualifying characteristic should exhibit itself so manifestly as to override the broad statutory categories of eligible subject matter and the statutory context that directs primary attention on the patentability criteria of the rest of the Patent Act.” Id. Ultimately, the determination of whether an asserted claim is invalid for lack of subject matter patentability under § 101 is a question of law. See Bilski I, 545 F.3d at 950. A patent is presumed to be valid by statute, 35 U.S.C. § 282; therefore, a patent challenger bears the burden of proving invalidity by clear and convincing evidence. See Pfizer, Inc. v. Apotex, Inc., 480 F.3d 1348, 1359 (Fed.Cir.2007). This standard of proof applies equally at summary judgment. See National Presto Indus. v. West Bend Co., 76 F.3d 1185, 1189 (Fed.Cir.1996). While invalidity is a question of law, “determination of this question may require findings of underlying facts specific to the particular subject matter and its mode of claiming.” Arrhythmia Research Technology, Inc. v. Corazonix Corp., 958 F.2d 1053, 1056 (Fed.Cir.1992). Whether an invention falls within a subject matter eligible for § 101 protection is also a threshold question. See Comiskey, 554 F.3d at 975. “It is well-established that ‘[t]he first door which must be opened on the difficult path to patentability is § 101.’ ” Id. at 973 (quoting State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Fin. Group, Inc., 149 F.3d 1368, 1372 n. 2 (Fed. Cir.1998)). Only after an invention has satisfied § 101, will it be analyzed under the remaining hurdles of the Patent Act, which include the requirement that an invention be novel, see § 102; nonobvious, see § 103; and fully and particularly described, see § 112. See Bilski II, 130 S.Ct. at 3225. III. ANALYSIS CLS argues that Alice’s claims are not patentable because they are directed to an abstract idea — the exchange of an obligation when sufficient value is present— which is supported by its argument that the method claims fail to satisfy the machine-or-transformation test. Thus, CLS posits that Alice’s method claims in the '510 Patent and claims 33 and 34 of the '479 Patent are directed to an abstract idea, and then by the draftsman’s art, this abstract idea is recast as computer system and product claims in the '720 and '375 Patents to carry out the same methods. CLS argues this is further evidenced by the fact the Patents share essentially the same specification and disclosure. A. Method Claims CLS first attacks claims 33 and 34 of the '479 Patent and every claim of the '510 Patent — which collectively entail the only method claims at issue in this litigation— arguing these method claims fail as abstract and because they fail to meet the machine-or-transformation test. Alice responds that the methods are not abstract, but a functional application of a method to satisfy a need, and that the claims further satisfy the machine-or-transformation test. 1. Statutory Category The first question is whether the methods in claims 33 and 34 of the '479 Patent and all claims in the '510 Patent statutorily qualify for patent protection. Congress broadly defined the categories of inventions to be afforded patent protection to ensure that “ingenuity should receive a liberal encouragement.” Chakrabarty, 447 U.S. at 308-09, 100 S.Ct. 2204. The Patent Act defines “process” as a “process, art or method, and includes a new use of a known process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or material.” 35 U.S.C. § 100(b). The relevant claims of the '479 and '510 Patents are directed to particular methods, or steps, of exchanging obligations. Thus, the claims nominally satisfy the statutory language of § 101 and the process definition laid out in § 100(b). However, the analysis does not end here as the machine-or-transformation test helps guide a court in the decision as to whether a process is subject matter eligible under the Patent Act. 2. Machine-or-Transformation Test To determine whether a process claims subject matter that is patent eligible, a court may look to the useful and important “machine-or-transformation” (“MOT”) test for guidance. See Prometheus Labs., Inc. v. Mayo Collaborative Servs. & Mayo Clinic Rochester, 628 F.3d 1347, 1355 (Fed.Cir.2010). Under the MOT test, an invention is a process if “(1) it is tied to a particular machine or apparatus, or (2) it transforms a particular article into a different state or thing.” Bilski I, 545 F.3d at 954. Further, “the use of a specific machine or transformation of an article must impose meaningful limits on the claim’s scope to impart patent-eligibility” and “the involvement of the machine or transformation in the claimed process must not merely be insignificant extra-solution activity.” Id. at 961-62. The MOT test is neither the exclusive nor the dispositive standard to determine whether an invention qualifies as a process under § 101, yet it remains a “useful and important clue, an investigative tool” in the analysis. Bilski II, 130 S.Ct. at 3227. Therefore, this Court analyzes the claims under the MOT analysis to inform its ultimate finding. The Court first finds the relevant claims of the '479 and '510 Patents do not involve any “transformation” under the MOT test. Alice argues that the electronic transformation of data caused by the methods’ electronic adjustment of accounts satisfies the transformation prong of the test. See Alice Mem. 33. The Federal Circuit recently grappled with its “measured approach” to allowing the manipulation of electronic signals or data or even “abstract constructs,” such as legal obligations, to qualify as transformations under the Patent Act. Bilski I, 545 F.3d at 962. The Federal Circuit pointed to only one example where “the electronic transformation of the data itself into a visual depiction” was sufficient to meet the test. Id. at 963 (citing In re Abele, 684 F.2d 902, 908-09 (C.C.P.A.1982)). It was not the mere manipulation of data itself that led the U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (the predecessor to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit) to find the method was transformative, but that the process involved the conversion of X-ray data into a visual depiction which represented specific physical objects, i.e., bones. See Bilski I, 545 F.3d at 962-63. Taken to the extreme, Alice’s argument would convert almost any use of a computer, or other electronic device with memory, to a transformation under the MOT test simply because data would necessarily have to be manipulated, and on a microscopic level, a hard drive, for instance, would be “transformed” by the process of “magnetizing or demagnetizing part of a hai’d disk drive platter corresponding to a bit of data.” See Alice Mem. 33. Further, for a transformation to satisfy the MOT test, the “transformation must be central to the purpose of the claimed process.” Bilski I, 545 F.3d at 962. Assuming the asserted process claims in the Patents are implemented by computer, the claims are nonetheless directed to “a method of exchanging obligations,” not to the manipulation of an electronic hard drive or memory, and any such electronic transformation is at most incidental to the exchange of obligations, not to mention it would also constitute insignificant extra-solution activity. Further, the exchange of “obligations” itself involves no particular article being transformed since obligations are a mere abstraction. “Purported transformations or manipulations simply of public or private legal obligations or relationships, business risks, or other such abstractions cannot meet the test because they are not physical objects or substances, and they are not representative of physical objects or substances.” Bilski I, 545 F.3d at 963. The method claims before the Court, that is, every claim of the '510 Patent and claims 33 and 34 of the '479 Patent, fail to transform any article under the machine-or-transformation test. The closer question is whether Alice’s process claims are tied to a particular machine or apparatus under the MOT test. A “machine” is a “a concrete thing, consisting of parts, or of certain devices and combination of devices.” In re Nuijten, 500 F.3d 1346, 1355 (Fed.Cir.2007) (quoting Burr v. Duryee, 68 U.S. (1 Wall.) 531, 570, 17 L.Ed. 650 (1863)). The Court first looks to the '510 Patent claims, each of which recites “electronically adjusting” records and/or accounts as a step within the claim. The Court has yet to construe the terms of these claims, but CLS concedes for purposes of these motions that the recitation of “electronically adjusting” by each of the '510 Patent claims means that the claims require the use of a computer. CLS Opp’n & Reply in Supp. of Mot. for Summ. J. [Dkt. ## 97, 98] (“CLS Reply”) at 11 n. 6. The Court will also presume, for purposes of these motions, that claims 33 and 34 of the '479 Patent are directed to computer implementation, a position CLS contests. To be sure, claims 33 and 34 of the '479 Patent contain no unambiguous reference to a machine or apparatus. Alice posits that a person of ordinary skill in the relevant art reading these claims in light of the specification and other claims of the '479 Patent would understand the term “transaction” to require the use of electronic data processing systems, see Alice Reply in Supp. of Mot. for Summ. J. [Dkt. # 99] (“Alice Reply”) 23, and the terms “shadow credit record” and “shadow debit record” to require electronic storage of data files in a data storage unit. Id. (citing Ginsberg Decl. ¶ 32); see also '479 Patent, col. 65:27, 33 (Claim 33). At a minimum, Alice argues that claims 33 and 34 are directed to implementation by a computer system including a processor and memory. See Alice Mem. 31; see also Ginsberg Decl. ¶ 43 (noting that the process claims “expressly recite methods of performing a particular transaction electronically, which requires (explicitly or implicitly) the use of a computer system”). Whether a claim is valid under § 101 is a matter of claim construction, see State Street, 149 F.3d at 1370, and for purposes of these motions, CLS has agreed to assume a construction of terms favorable to Alice. The specification for the '479 Patent reveals that the invention entails systems and methods to be realized through the use of a computer with specific programming. See, e.g., '479 Patent, col. 4:24-42; see also Ginsberg ¶ 29 (“The entire patent is directed to computer systems and the software applications, e.g., ‘CONTRACT APPS,’ needed to perform the methods described in the patent.”). However, claims 33 and 34 are independent of the broader, more intricate trading platform system revealed in the specification and claimed by the '479 Patent. However, because the relevant terms of claims 33 and 34 of the '479 Patent have yet to be construed, because CLS has agreed to a broad construction of terms favorable to Alice, and because the specification reveals a computer-based invention, the Court can reasonably assume for present purposes that the terms “shadow” credit and/or debit record and “transaction” in the '479 Patent recite electronic implementation and a computer or an analogous electronic device. The single fact that Alice’s method claims are implemented by computer does not mean the methods are tied to a particular machine under the MOT test. The requirement that shadow accounts and/or records be adjusted electronically, or that information be stored electronically, may not sufficiently tie the claims to a particular machine or apparatus that imposes meaningful limits on the claims’ scope. See CLS Reply 10. At what point does a method that is to be implemented by computer become sufficiently tied to a particular computer, so that it satisfies the machine prong of the MOT test? This question has not been clearly answered by the Federal Circuit or the Supreme Court. See, e.g., Bilski I, 545 F.3d at 962 (“We leave to future cases the elaboration of the precise contours of machine implementation, as well as the answers to particular questions, such as whether or when recitation of a computer suffices to tie a process claim to a particular machine.”). The Court concludes that nominal recitation of a general-purpose computer in a method claim does not tie the claim to a particular machine or apparatus or save the claim from being found unpatentable under § 101. See, e.g., Fuzzysharp Techs., Inc. v. 3D Labs Inc., Ltd., No. 07-5948, 2009 WL 4899215, at *4, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115493, *12 (N.D.Cal. Dec. 11, 2009) (“Courts applying Bilski have concluded that the mere recitation of ‘computer’ or reference to using a computer in a patent claim us [sic] insufficient to tie a patent claim to a particular machine.”) (emphasis in original) (referring to Bilski I, 545 F.3d 943); Cf. Benson, 409 U.S. 63, 93 S.Ct. 253 (finding method claims to be performed on a general purpose computer to be invalid as an algorithm). On the other hand, a computer that has been specifically programmed to perform the steps of a method may no longer be considered a general purpose computer, but instead, a particular machine. Cf. In re Alappat, 33 F.3d 1526, 1545 (Fed.Cir.1994) (finding that “a general purpose computer in effect becomes a special purpose computer once it is programmed to perform particular functions pursuant to instructions from program software”). With evolving guidance on this issue, district courts have determined that a method claim that is directed to a general purpose computer is not tied to a particular machine under the MOT test. See, e.g., Fuzzysharp, 2009 WL 4899215 at *4, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115493 at *12 (“The salient question is not whether the claims are tied to a computer. Rather, as Bilski makes clear, the question is whether the claims are tied to a particular machine.”) (citing Bilski I, 545 F.3d at 961) (emphasis in original). In Dealer-Track, a district court found asserted claims directed to a “computer aided method” of managing a credit application to be invalid under § 101. DealerTrack, Inc. v. Huber, 657 F.Supp.2d 1152 (C.D.Cal.2009). The court found the method at issue was not tied to a particular machine because the patent failed to specify how the hardware and database recited were “specially programmed” to implement the method, and the claimed central processor was “nothing more than a general purpose computer that has been programmed in some unspecified manner.” Id. at 1156; see also Accenture Global Servs. GmbH v. Guidewire Software, Inc., 691 F.Supp.2d 577, 597 (D.Del.2010) (suggesting that a method conducted by a “data processing system,” which also claimed a “claim folder,” “display device,” and “screen,” was not tied to a particular computer per the MOT test because the terms failed to “imply a specific computer having any particular programming — they are descriptive of a general computer system at best”). The Fuzzysharp court also found certain method claims were not tied to a particular machine. The claims at issue related to “reducing the indivisibility related computations in 3-D graphics” and the district court accepted that the claims required a device such as a computer because at least one claim recited “computer storage,” and the parties agreed that certain terms required a “computer screen.” Fuzzysharp, 2009 WL 4899215 at *3-4, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115493 at *11-12. Nonetheless the court found that the claims were not tied to a particular machine because they either contained only a “passing reference to ‘computer storage’ ” or simply made “a general[] reference to ‘a’ computer.” Id. at *4, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115493 at *12-15. The court noted that ultimately the challenged method claims employed algorithms and calculations which would require a computer, but no particular computer. Id. at *5, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115493 at *15. To determine whether a machine is particular under the MOT test, courts also look to whether the machine or apparatus imposes meaningful limits on the process itself. “In order for the addition of a machine to impose a meaningful limit on the scope of a claim, it must play a significant part in permitting the claimed method to be performed, rather than function solely as an obvious mechanism for permitting a solution to be achieved more quickly, i.e., through the utilization of a computer for performing calculations.” SiRF Tech., Inc. v. ITC, 601 F.3d 1319, 1333 (Fed.Cir.2010). A machine meaningfully limits a method when the machine is “essential to the operation of the claimed methods.” Id. In SiRF Tech., decided before Bilski II, the Federal Circuit held that claimed methods for teaching a GPS receiver an improved manner in which to calculate its position were tied to a particular machine. Id. The Federal Circuit underscored the fact that the machine imposed meaningful limits on the methods since the methods could not be performed without the machine itself — the GPS receiver — and there was no evidence that the calculations required by the claims could be performed entirely in the human mind. Id. at 1332-33; see also CyberSource Corp. v. Retail Decisions, Inc., 620 F.Supp.2d 1068, 1077 (N.D.Cal.2009) (finding a method for detecting fraud in credit card transactions over the Internet directed to unpatentable subject matter as the method was not limited to a particular machine, in part, because the process could occur offline: “To give but one example, a merchant taking an order over the telephone could use records or databases to crosscheck all credit card numbers associated with that telephone number”). Similarly, in Every Penny Counts, a district court invalidated a method claim because it failed the MOT test. See Every Penny Counts, Inc. v. Bank of Am. Corp., No. 2:07-042, 2009 WL 6853402, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53626 (M.D.Fla. May 27, 2009). The claim was directed to a system in which a consumer could have a portion of any credit or debit transaction set aside — that amount determined either by rounding up each transaction to the nearest dollar and setting aside the difference or by adding a predetermined amount to each transaction — and then have the portion routed to either the consumer’s savings account, a preferred charitable organization, or a portion to each. Id. at *1, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53626 at *2. The district court first found the claim, categorized as a system, to be truly directed to a process since it “has no substantial practical application except in connection with computers, cash registers, and networks, but it is not comprised of those devices.” Id. at *2, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53626 at *7 (internal quotation marks omitted). The court then found that although the process recited implementation by a “network,” “entry means” and a “computing means in said network being responsive to said data,” the so-described computer failed to impose a meaningful limitation on the process because the claim was essentially “a mathematical algorithm [that] uses machines for data input and data output and to perform the required calculations.” Id. at *3, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53626 at *7. Granting Alice’s position that “claims 33 and 34 of the '479 patent are properly limited to implementations of the claim methods using a computer, just as the '510 patent requires,” see Alice Mem. 32 n. 15, the Court nonetheless finds the method claims before the Court — claims 33 and 34 of the '479 Patent and each claim of the '510 Patent — are not tied to a particular machine under the MOT test. Assuming accounts and/or records will be electronically adjusted, which requires information to be stored electronically in a data storage unit, and that an irrevocable instruction is conducted electronically, the method claims here at best recite implementation by a general-purpose computer. The claims before the Court at most implicitly recite a computer by claiming electronic adjustment of records or accounts. This contrasts with other cases in which district courts found methods were not tied to a particular machine and were unpatentable under § 101 despite explicit recitation of hardware or computer components. See, e.g., Every Penny, 2009 WL 6853402 at *2-3, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53626 at *7 (reciting “network,” “entry means” and “computing means in said network being responsive to said data”); Fuzzysharp, 2009 WL 4899215 at *4, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 115493 at *12 (reciting “computer” and “computer storage”); Dealer-Track, 657 F.Supp.2d at 1153 (reciting, inter alia, “computer aided method” and “remote application entry and display device”); Accenture Global Servs., 691 F.Supp.2d at 597 (suggesting, but not holding, that claims reciting “data processing system,” “claim folder,” “display device,” and “screen” were not patentable). To be sure, the specification of the '479 Patent, which the '510 Patent largely shares, reveals a seemingly intricate “trading platform” invention consisting of systems and methods, with apparent software applications to be used in implementing the invention. The '479 Patent specification speaks to methods being conducted by way of specifically programmed computing devices. See, e.g., '479 Patent, col. 28:12-16 (“The invention has industrial application in the use of electrical computing devices and data communications. The apparatus and methods described allow the management of risk in an automated manner by means of programming of the computing devices.”); '510 Patent, col. 31:66-67 & col. 32:1-3 (same). The specification undoubtedly provides context for reading a patent’s claims, but the plain language of the claims themselves is the measure of the breadth of patent protection granted. See Innova/Pure Water, Inc. v. Safari Wa ter Filtration Sys., 381 F.3d 1111, 1116 (Fed.Cir.2004). Alice points to unasserted claims 12 and 28 of the '479 Patent to demonstrate that if claims 33 and 34 are interpreted in context of other '479 Patent claims, it becomes clear that claims 33 and 34 also require computer implementation. See Ginsberg ¶¶ 30-31. The Court has accepted this proposition, however this juxtaposition reinforces the Court’s conclusion that claims 33 and 34 of the '479 Patent are independent of the broader computer system revealed in the specification, and it demonstrates that the drafters of the claims of the '479 Patent knew how to explicitly recite to computer components. Claim 12 discloses a detailed system which incorporates other claims, including the computer based processing system revealed in claim 1, and additionally claims an exchange institution holding a debit and credit record, that the “data processing apparatus” be “configured” to maintain a shadow credit and debit record for each stakeholder, and the “data processing means being configured” to obtain a start-of-day balance for the shadow credit and debit records and to at the end-of-day instruct the exchange institutions to adjust their records according to the transactions performed. See '479 Patent, col. 61:53-67 & col. 62:1-7. Claim 28 of the '479 Patent, on the other hand, is directed to a method of exchanging obligations similar to claims 33 and 34, but recites additional elements, such as a “data processing apparatus”— incorporated from claim 18 — and that an independent shadow credit and debit record be maintained and that “at the end-of-day, the data processing apparatus instructing ones of the exchange institutions” to effectuate the exchanges accordingly. Id. col. 64:13-40. Therefore, even assuming a reasonable construction favorable to Alice that claims 33 and 34 of the '479 Patent and each claim of the '510 Patent recites to computer implementation, the asserted claims contain no indication that the computers, or other devices required to implement the methods, are specifically programmed. The claims make no mention of any specific hardware, let alone software or specifically programmed hardware. Alice’s expert construes the claims to require “a computer configured and programmed to carry out the processes of the claims.” Ginsberg Decl. ¶ 15. Alice argues the term “shadow record” refers to electronic records maintained in a data storage unit by a computer programmed with application software. Alice Reply 24. While the specification and other claims of the '479 Patent may reveal specifically programmed computers, only claims 33 and 34 of the '479 Patent and the claims of the '510 Patent are before the Court, and according to the plain language of the terms actually employed in these claims it cannot be said that they reasonably recite to a specifically programmed computer. Furthermore, that the processes before the Court are conducted electronically, by way of a computer, fails to impose a meaningful limitation on the processes themselves. See Every Penny Counts, 2009 WL 6853402 at *2-3, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53626 at *7 (finding the computerized method required machines for data input and output, and to perform calculations, but the machines imposed no limit on the process itself). A computer may facilitate and expedite the claimed methods, however the methods before the Court could be performed without use of a computer. Alice’s expert acknowledges that the methods could be performed in a non-electronic format. “In an abstract sense, it is possible to perform the business methods of maintaining accounts, and providing an instruction without a computer or other hardware.” Ginsberg Decl. ¶ 40. “If someone had thought of this invention 100 years ago, they might have implemented it in a non-electronic manner using various pre-computing tools such as an abacus or handwritten ledgers.” Id. Looking at the methods claimed by Alice, the Court need not even engage in abstraction to contemplate how they could be implemented without the use of electronics. The method of exchanging obligations by employing an intermediary to consummate the exchange after ensuring the parties have adequate value to guarantee the exchange, perhaps by keeping an up-to-date record of the parties’ abilities to honor their obligations, and then providing an irrevocable instruction to the parties— or their representative banks or other value holders — to adjust their accounts or records accordingly, does not require the use of computers. See Ultramercial, LLC v. Hulu, LLC, No. 09-06918, 2010 WL 3360098, *5, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 93453, *13 (C.D.Cal. Aug. 13, 2010) (finding a computerized method invalid, in part, because “[t]here is nothing inherently computer-specific about receiving media from a content provider, choosing a sponsor for the media, selecting an ad for the sponsor, verifying the viewer’s activity, assigning passwords, charging the sponsor for the advertisement, or any of the remaining steps”); see also Benson, 409 U.S. at 67, 93 S.Ct. 253 (“The mathematical procedures can be carried out in existing computers long in use, no new machinery being necessary. And, as noted, they can also be performed without a computer.”); Flook, 437 U.S. at 586, 98 S.Ct. 2522 (“Although the computations can be made by pencil and paper calculations, the abstract of disclosure makes it clear that the formula is primarily useful for computerized calculations producing automatic adjustments in alarm settings.”). Claims 33 and 34 of the '479 Patent and the