On Friday, a patent for a software-heavy flow cytometry method received new life from the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In this decision, XY LLC v. Trans Ova Genetics, LC, the appeals court reversed a lower court’s previous decision, which had earlier found the patent to cover an “abstract idea,” leaving it ineligible for patent protection.

The underlying technology involves flow cytometry using at least two detectors. A computer receives signals from both detectors, converts these signals into overlapping multidimensional parameter data, and uses the resulting data to sort the particles.

On appeal, the court found that the patent claims an “improved method of operating a flow cytometry apparatus to classify and sort particles,” and not just a “mathematical equation.” It compared this method to other inventions that courts had earlier found to be patent-eligible: a computer-operated, equation-driven method of perfectly curing rubber and, from a more recent court decision, a non-conventional system/method of using two inertial sensors to determine an orientation of an object relative to a moving frame of reference. As in these inventions, the court reasoned, the full flow cytometry method implements or applies a mathematical formula, in exactly the kind of process that patents are meant to protect.

Trying to undermine the patent, the accused infringer compared it to other ineligible calculation-based methods. However, the court noted detailed specifics about how to sort particles in the flow cytometry patent. This, the court found, meaningfully distinguished it from mere mathematical formulae on their own.

Having decided that the patent was not drawn to an abstract idea in the first place, the Federal Circuit did not consider the second step of the ineligible abstract ideas analysis. This step would have examined whether any additional elements transform the invention into a patent-eligible application of the abstract idea.

The precedential decision Friday from the Federal Circuit adds support for patent owners, particularly those seeking to protect improved scientific analysis methods, scientific instrumentation, or medical devices. Patent applicants who disclose specific aspects about the real-world implementation of software-based methods may be able to take advantage of this decision and make it applicable to their own situations.