In re Pardo

Citation: In re Pardo, 654 F.2d 912 (C.C.P.A. 1982).

Factual Background
This case involved an invention which controlled the internal operations of a computer through the compiler program, and consisted of a method for converting the computer from a sequential processor to a processor that is not dependent on the order in which it receives program steps. The patent application characterized the invention as an algorithm of a compiler program.

C.C.P.A. Decision
The Court of Customs and Patent Appeals viewed the invention not as an algorithm, but as the rules by which a data processor operates, thereby governing the manner in which programs are executed. It rejected the argument that the claims were really mathematical calculations.