Episode 4: The Toy Examiner's 101 Problem, An Incomplete Restriction, and the Bank That Stopped Filing

A mechanical art unit covering games and toys is issuing patent eligibility rejections at 63.6%, more than three times the group average and nearly double the next closest unit, with no clean explanation. Thirteen art units issued Office Actions this week without allowing a single application. Then, a restriction requirement that demands an election without telling the applicant what they're choosing between. And finally, a bank that filed a check-processing patent in October 2007, survived the financial crisis, got blindsided by Alice, appealed to the PTAB, lost on 101, won on 103, and is still in prosecution 18 years later while the Dow has tripled and the bank has essentially stopped filing patents entirely.