In denying the plaintiff’s request for reconsideration of summary judgment of invalidity under 35 U.S.C. § 101, the Court in Digitech Information Systems, Inc. v. BMW Financial Services NA, LLC, No. 6:10-cv-1373 (M.D. Fla. July 30, 3012), compared the claim at issue to the claims held not patent-eligible in the Federal Circuit’s recent decision in […]
Archive | July, 2012
Insurance Valuation Patent Claims Invalid Under Section 101
The Federal Circuit has upheld a District Court decision invalidating, as patent-ineligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101, patent claims directed to calculating an amount that a third-party guarantor must pay based on market and book values of an insurance policy in the event the policy is paid out prematurely. Bancorp Services, LLC. v. Sun Life […]
Plaintiff Must Identify Software Trade Secrets
Here is a reminder that plaintiffs have an obligation to identify allegedly stolen trade secrets. In MSCI, Inc. v. Jacob, 945 N.Y.S.2d 863 (April 20, 2012), a New York state court held that the plaintiffs were required to affirmatively identify features of their software that included trade secrets, rather than simply identify aspects of the […]
Discovery Not Limited to Patent Infringement Contentions
By Charles Bieneman on July 24, 2012 in Discovery, Litigation, Patent Infringement Contentions, Software Patents
Because the Eastern District of Texas does not limit the scope of discovery to the plaintiff’s infringement contentions, the court in DDR Holdings, LLC v. Hotels.com, No. 2:06-CV-42-JRG (E.D. Texas, July 18, 2012), granted the plaintiff’s motion to compel one of the defendants to produce a corporate representative to testify regarding various of that defendant’s […]
Is a Patent Infringed by Activation of Software Abroad from a System in the U.S.?
By Charles Bieneman on July 22, 2012 in Discovery, Litigation, Patent Infringement, Software Patents
In a discovery context, at least, one should assume that a U.S.-based system that activates software sold abroad can infringe a U.S. patent. Prism Technologies v. Adobe Systems Inc., No. 8:10CV220 (D. Neb. July 17, 2012). Prism sought financial data and activation data “pertaining to Symantec’s use of its U.S.-based software activation system to activate […]
Attorney Fees in In rem Cybersquatting Action?
A Virginia court has granted relief to a plaintiff in an in rem action involving a domain name, but has denied a request for attorney fees because the mere failure of the domain name registrant to appear was insufficient evidence of the bad faith intent required to make an exceptional case under the Lanham Act. […]
Copyright Infringement and Software Version Control
Enforcing a software copyright depends on good source code version control. This is because enforcing a software copyright depends on being able to produce the version of software whose copyright is alleged to be infringed. In Indyne, Inc. v. Abacus Technology Corp., No: 6:11-cv-137-Orl-22DAB (M.D. Fla. June 1, 2012), the defendant’s motion for summary judgment […]
2nd Cir. Applies Lear Doctrine to Pre-Lititgation Settlement Agreement
The Second Circuit has held that “a clause in a settlement agreement which bars a patent licensee from later challenging the patent’s validity is void for public policy reasons under the Supreme Court’s decision in Lear, Inc. v. Adkins.” Rates Technology Inc. v. Speakeasy, Inc., No. 11-4462-cv (July 10, 2012). Rates Technology Inc. (“RTI”), owner […]
Business Method Claims Patentable Says Fed. Cir.
Patent claims directed to using an intermediary in financial transactions to eliminate settlement risk have been held to recite patent-eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101. CLS Bank Int’l. v. Alice Corp., No. 2011-1301 (Fed. Cir. July 9, 2012). Writing for the majority of a divided panel, Judge Linn, joined by Judge O’Malley, emphasized […]
Violations of Employer’s Computer Use Restrictions Does Not Violate CFAA
Hospital employees did not “exceed authorized access” under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), 18 USC § 1030, when they violated the hospital’s computer usage policy by attaching removable storage devices to computers that they were otherwise authorized to access. Wentworth-Douglass Hospital v. Young & Novis Professional Ass’n., No. 10-cv-120-SM (D. N.H. June 29, […]