Patent troll gives up, can’t defend “matchmaking” patent under new law
Source: ArsTechnica
A patent troll called Lumen View Technology got stopped in its tracks last year after it sued Santa Barbara-based startup FindTheBest, then asked the company for a quick $50,000 settlement. It lost its case, and has now said it won't even bother appealing. <snip>
...the judge in the case ruled that it was nothing more than a computerized twist on an ancient idea. The patent delineated a process of having parties input preference data, and then an automated process of determining a good match. "Matchmakers have been doing this for millennia," wrote US District Judge Denise Cote in her order invalidating the patent. <snip>
"The United States Supreme Court in Alice Corporation v. CLS Bank International has provided greater clarity on patentability in light of 35 U.S.C. §101," Lumen View's lawyer wrote in a September 12 motion indicating it would drop its appeal. "The parties respectfully make a request for dismissal as an efficient resolution of the instant appeal and to conserve judicial resources." <snip>
Things got worse for Lumen View when its lawsuit became the first case in the country to apply new fee-shifting standards created this year by the Supreme Court. In May, Cote ruled that Lumen View would have to pay FindTheBest's costs, as punishment for seeking a "nuisance settlement" and then threatening "full-scale litigation" with "protracted discovery."
Read more: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/09/lumen-view-gives-up-on-matchmaking-patent-cant-defend-it-under-new-law/
For an interesting article on some of the cases being impacted in this huge shift in patent enforceability, the link below might be a good read.
Alice is Killing The Trolls
It refers to the 'Alice Corp. v CLS Bank' ruling which is fast becoming a landmark decision for patent cases in the United States.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Faryn Balyncd
(5,125 posts)The patent system now OBSTRUCTS progress rather than advancing progress as the Constitution intended.
Lochloosa
(16,066 posts)cstanleytech
(26,299 posts)because imo its atleast as bad as the patent system.
FrodosPet
(5,169 posts)"Appears To Only Prosecute Patents."
christx30
(6,241 posts)of the patent world. Not a real entity that does anything useful for the world. Just exists to make money by sueing anyone that looks at them crosseyed.