Evolutionary Intelligence, LLC v. Sprint Nextel Corp.

137 F. Supp. 3d 1157
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedOctober 6, 2015
DocketCase Nos. 13-04513, 13-04201, 13-04202, 13-04203, 13-04204, 13-04205, 13-04206, 13-04207, 13-03587
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 137 F. Supp. 3d 1157 (Evolutionary Intelligence, LLC v. Sprint Nextel Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Evolutionary Intelligence, LLC v. Sprint Nextel Corp., 137 F. Supp. 3d 1157 (N.D. Cal. 2015).

Opinion

[1160]*1160ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO DISMISS AND MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS

RONALD M. WHYTE, United States District Judge

Defendants Sprint Nextel Corporation, Sprint Communications Company L.P., Sprint Spectrum L.P., Sprint Solutions Inc., Apple, Inc., Facebook, Inc., Foursquare Labs, Inc., Groupon, Inc., LivingSo-cial, Inc., Twitter, Inc:, Yelp, Inc., and Millennial Media, Inc. (collectively, “defendants”) move to dismiss plaintiff Evolutionary Intelligence, LLC’s (“El”) complaint, and for judgment on the pleadings. Dkt. No. 188.1 Defendants argue that all claims of the asserted patents, U.S. Patent Nos. 7,010,536 (“the ’536 patent”) and 7,702,682 (“the ’682 patent”), are invalid for failure to claim patent-eligible subject matter. For the reasons explained below, the court GRANTS the motion.

I. BACKGROUND

El asserts that defendants each infringe the ’536 and ’682 patents, both of which are entitled “System and Method for Creating and Manipulating Information Containers with Dynamic Registers.” The ’682 patent issued on April 20, 2010, and is a continuation of the ’536 patent, which issued on March 7, 2006. ’682 patent at 1; ’536 patent at 1. The two patents share the same specification, claim priority to the same provisional application (No. 60/073,-209, filed January 30, 1998), identify the same sole inventor (Michael De Angelo), and are both now owned by El. ’682 patent at 1; ’536 patent at 1; Dkt. No. 1 ¶¶ 12, 17.

The common specification describes the patents as directed to a “means to create and manipulate information containers.” ’682 patent, col.l 11.28.2 El previously characterized the patents as containing three broad categories of independent claims: (1) methods of tracking searches; (2) time-based information containers; and (3) location-based information containers. See Evolutionary Intelligence LLC v. Sprint Nextel Corp., Case No. 12-0791, Dkt. No. 167, at 2 (E.D. Tex. Oct. 17, 2012). The specification explains that such containers store information on various types of computer and digital networks, as well as on physical, published, and “other” media. ’682 patent, col.3 11.13-15. The containers include various types-of “registers” which perform functions such as identifying the container or contents, providing rules of interaction between containers, and recording the history of the container. Id. col. 13 11.4-10. The containers also have “gateways” to “control[ ] the interaction of the container with other containers, systems or processes.” ’536 patent, claims 1, 2, 15, and 16. The patents also state that the patented invention “includes a search interface or browser” which allows a “user to submit, record and access search streams or phrases generated historically by himself, other users, or the system.” ’682 patent, col.611.10-14.

The specification summarizes the invention in very broad terms as:

[A] system and methods for manufacturing information on, upgrading the utility of, and developing intelligence in, a computer or digital network, local, wide area, public, corporate, or digital-based, supported, or enhanced physical media form or public or published media, or other by offering the means to create [1161]*1161and manipulate information containers with dynamic registers:

Id. col.311.10-16.

The specification describes a preferred embodiment configured with “an input device 24, an output device 16, a processor 18, a memory unit 22, a data storage device 20, and a communication device 26 operating on a network 201.” Id. col.7 11.35-38, Fig. 1; see also id. col.7 1.38-col.8 1.44 (describing components).

A. The ’682 Patent

Thei ’682 patent contains seven independent claims (claims 1 and 18-23), and sixteen dependent claims. Independent claim 1 is representative: .

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
receiving a search query; searching, using the computer, first container registers encapsulated and logically defined in a plurality of containers to identify identified containers responsive to the search query, the container registers having defined therein data comprising historical data associated with interactions of the identified containers with other containers from the plurality of containers, wherein searching the first container registers comprises searching the historical data; encapsulating the identified containers in a new container; updating second container registers of the identified containers with data associated with, interactions of the identified containers with the new container; and
providing a list characterizing the identified containers.

’682 patent, col, 29 11.52-67. Independent claim 19 is identical- to claim 1 except that the preamble states “[a] computer program product, tangibly embodied on computer-readable media, comprising instructions operable to cause 'data processing apparatus to” perform the steps ,of the method in claim 1. Id. col.31 11.28-30. Likewise, independent claim 21 is identical to claim 1 except that it is an apparatus claim in means-plus-function form. Id. col. 32 11.5-22. Independent claim 23 is identical to claim 1 except for the fact that it claims “search query templates” in the place of “containers” in claim 1. Id. col. 32 11.44-61.

‘ Independent claims 18, 20, and 22 are identical to independent cláims 1, 19, and 21 respectively, except they claim “polling” gateways rather than “searching” containers. See id. col.31 11.7-27; cól.31 1.47-col.32 1.4; col. 32 11.23-43. However* the claims make clear that “polling the plurality of gateways comprises searching the historical data,” and therefore claims 18, 20, and 22 rise or fall with the other independent claims. See, e.g., id. col.3111.18-20. .

Dependent claims 2-17 depend from claim 1, and add various component and process limitations such as a “data tree having at least one parent-child relationship” (claim 2), id. col.30 11.1-3, and specifying that the “list characterizing the identified containers” “provides a title of each identified container and a short description of its contents” (claim 7), id. col.3011.25-27.

B. The ’536 Patent

The ’536.patent contains four independent claims (claims 1, 2, 15, and 16) and twelve dependent claims. Each is an apparatus claim. Independent claim 1 is representative:

1. An apparatus for transmitting, receiving and manipulating information on a computer system, the apparatus including a plurality of containers, each con[1162]*1162tainer being a logically defined data enclosure and comprising:
an information element having information;
a plurality of registers,' the plurality of registers forming part of the container and including
a first register for storing a unique container identification value,
a second register having a representation designating time and governing interactions of the container with oth- , er.

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Related

Voip-Pal.Com, Inc. v. Apple Inc.
375 F. Supp. 3d 1110 (N.D. California, 2019)
Evolutionary Intelligence LLC v. Sprint Nextel Corporation
677 F. App'x 679 (Federal Circuit, 2017)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
137 F. Supp. 3d 1157, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/evolutionary-intelligence-llc-v-sprint-nextel-corp-cand-2015.