Cardionet, LLC v. Infobionic, Inc.

348 F. Supp. 3d 87
CourtDistrict Court, District of Columbia
DecidedOctober 16, 2018
DocketCivil Action No. 17-cv-10445-IT
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 348 F. Supp. 3d 87 (Cardionet, LLC v. Infobionic, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, District of Columbia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Cardionet, LLC v. Infobionic, Inc., 348 F. Supp. 3d 87 (D.D.C. 2018).

Opinion

Indira Talwani, United States District Judge

Plaintiffs CardioNet, LLC ("CardioNet") and Braemar Manufacturing, LLC ("Braemar") allege that products manufactured and distributed by Defendant InfoBionic, Inc. ("InfoBionic") infringe on Plaintiffs' patent, U.S. Patent Number 7,941,207 ("the '207 patent"). Am. Compl. ("Complaint") [# 25]. InfoBionic moves to dismiss Plaintiffs' Complaint [# 25], arguing that the '270 patent is invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101 as construed by Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Intern., 573 U.S. 208, 134 S.Ct. 2347, 2354, 189 L.Ed.2d 296 (2014), and its progeny, because the asserted claims are directed to an abstract idea and are patent-ineligible. Mot. to Dismiss 1 [# 36]. Finding that the claims at issue are directed at patent-ineligible concepts, and that the elements of each claim do not transform the claim into a patent-eligible application, the court ALLOWS Defendant's Motion to Dismiss [# 36].

I. Background

The '207 patent was issued to CardioNet in 2011. Cardionet assigned the '207 patent to Braemar, and Braemar granted CardioNet an exclusive license to make, use, offer to sell, sell, import, license, and exploit the '207 patent. Compl. ¶¶ 7-8 [# 25].

The '207 patent is entitled "Cardiac Monitoring." Id. ¶ 7 [# 25]. It relates to "[s]ystems and techniques for monitoring cardiac activity." Compl. Ex. A ( '207 Patent) 2 [# 25-1]. The patented methods monitor the electrical activity of the heart to identify two types of heart arrhythmias, atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter (collectively, "AF"), both of which are associated with stroke, congestive heart failure, and cardiomyopathy. Id. at 11 col. 1:31-32. The '207 patent claims to distinguish AF from other types of cardiac arrhythmia by *90monitoring the variability between heartbeats, id. at col. 1:49-50, in a manner that can "provid[e] improved positive predictability of AF," and "identify sustained AF episodes, where AF continues for more [than] approximately 20 beats and has an increased clinical significance." Id. at 12 col. 3:14-15, 17-20. The patent claims that the systems and techniques "are well-adapted to monitoring cardiac signals of ambulatory patents who are away from controlled environments such as hospital beds or treatment facilities." Id. at col. 3:27-30. The patent further claims that "the described systems and techniques are also well-adapted to real-time monitoring of arrhythmia patients, where minimal delays in distinguishing between different types of cardiac arrhythmia can speed the delivery of any urgent medical care," and "require minimal computational resources." Id. at col. 3:35-40.

The Complaint [# 25] asserts that InfoBionic's first and second generation MoMe Kardia Systems infringe one or more claims of the '207 patent, including claims 1, 2, 3, 7, 10, 11, 12, and 22. Compl. ¶¶ 19-31 [# 25].

II. Discussion

A. Standard

To survive a motion to dismiss, a plaintiff "must state a claim that is plausible on its face." Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). In resolving the motion, the court must "begin by identifying and disregarding statements ... that merely offer 'legal conclusion[s] couched as ... fact[ ].' " Occasion-Hernández v. Fortuño-Burset, 640 F.3d 1, 12 (1st Cir. 2011) (alteration in original) (quoting Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 668, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) ). Nonconclusory factual statements contained in the pleadings must then be viewed as true, id., and the court must view these facts in the light most favorable to the nonmovant and draw all reasonable inferences therefrom to the nonmovant's behalf. Id. at 17.

"While most Rule 12(b)(6) motions are premised on a plaintiff's putative failure to state an actionable claim, such a motion may sometimes be premised on the inevitable success of an affirmative defense." Nisselson v. Lernout, 469 F.3d 143, 150 (1st Cir. 2006). "Dismissing a case under Rule 12(b)(6) on the basis of an affirmative defense requires that '(i) the facts establishing the defense are definitively ascertainable from the complaint and the other allowable sources of information, and (ii) those facts suffice to establish the affirmative defense with certitude.' " Id. (quoting Rodi v. S. New Eng. Sch. of Law, 389 F.3d 5, 12 (1st Cir. 2004) ); see also Aatrix Software, Inc. v. Green Shades Software, Inc., 882 F.3d 1121, 1125 (Fed. Cir. 2018) ("patent eligibility can be determined at the Rule 12(b)(6) stage ... only when there are no [plausible] factual allegations that ... preclude dismiss[al]").

Because the court accepts the factual allegations in the complaint and other allowable sources of information as true for purposes of a motion to dismiss, "[i]f there are claim construction disputes, ... the court [may] proceed by adopting the non-moving party's construction," and construing the patent claims in a manner most favorable to the non-moving party.

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Related

Cardionet, LLC v. Infobionic, Inc
955 F.3d 1358 (Federal Circuit, 2020)
Cardionet, LLC v. Scottcare Corp.
388 F. Supp. 3d 442 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 2019)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
348 F. Supp. 3d 87, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cardionet-llc-v-infobionic-inc-dcd-2018.