Listingbook, LLC v. Market Leader, Inc.

144 F. Supp. 3d 777, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153994, 2015 WL 7176455
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. North Carolina
DecidedNovember 13, 2015
DocketNo. 1:13-cv-583
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 144 F. Supp. 3d 777 (Listingbook, LLC v. Market Leader, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Listingbook, LLC v. Market Leader, Inc., 144 F. Supp. 3d 777, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153994, 2015 WL 7176455 (M.D.N.C. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

LORETTA C. BIGGS, District Judge.

Listingbook, LLC, (“Listingbook”) brings this action against Market Leader, Inc., (“Market Leader”) alleging patent infringement in violation of the Patent Act of 1952, 35 U.S.C. § 100-376 (2012). (Compl. ¶¶ 1, 24-25, ECF No. 1.) Market Leader moves for summary judgment, asserting that certain claims of Listingbook’s patent are ineligible for patent protection under § 101 of the Patent Act and are thus invalid.1 (See Def.’s Mot. 1, ECF No. 55.) The Court heard oral argument on September 3, 2015. For the reasons below, the .Court grants Market Leader’s Motion for Summary Judgment (ECF No. 55).

I. BACKGROUND

Listingbook owns U.S. Patent No. 7,454,355 (“the '355 Patent”), entitled “Method and System for Providing Real Estate Information Using a Computer Network, Such as the Internet.” (’355 Patent 1, ECF No. 57-3; see Compl. ¶ 6, [780]*780ECF No. 1.) In its patent specification, Listingbook describes a method and system where real estate agents use com-' puters to log onto a website and create individual client accounts containing information about each client. (See '355 Patent 9:49-63, ECF No. 57-3.) In addition to contact information, client accounts may include information related to the clients’ property search criteria, such as preferred price range, number of bedrooms, and square footage. (See id. at 9:57-63, 10:50-11:14.) This criteria is then used to search for properties in a real estate information database. (See id. at 14:27-30.) After logging into their accounts, clients can view properties found by the agent, tag properties for future reference, and if authorized, conduct their own searches of the real estate information database. (See id. at 4:27-59, 14:30-42.) The clients’ online activity is monitored and recorded in the system. (See id. at 5:21-22; 9:37-43.) Agents can then access a “buyer list,” a webpage presenting client activity information in summary form. (See id. at 11:15-19.) From the buyer list, agents can learn whether any clients have logged into their accounts, the number of properties each client has viewed, and the number of properties each client has tagged, all since the last time the agent accessed that particular information for each client on the list. (See id. at 3:61^:5, 4:27-65.) The buyer list also indicates the number of properties fitting each client’s property search criteria that have been changed or added to the real estate information database since the last time the agent accessed that information. (See id. at 4:6-26.) Each data point in the buyer list appears as a hyperlink leading the agent to a webpage with more detailed information, such as the precise properties that have been viewed, tagged, changed, or added. (See id. at 5:32-54.)

These features of Listingbook’s invention can generally be found in the thirty-eight claims of Listingbook’s patent. Of those thirty-eight claims, twenty-five are at issue in this summary judgment motion: Claims 1 to 10, 16 to 26, 28, 34, 37, and 38. (See Pl.’s Disclosure of Asserted Claims 1-2, ECF No. 29-6; Def.’s Mem. 1, ECF No. 56.) Of the claims at issue, Claims 1, 37, and 38 are independent claims, while the remaining claims are dependent on Claim l.2 Claim 1 reads as follows:

A computer-implemented method of providing client-accessed real estate information to a real estate professional associated with a first client and a second client, and for providing professional-accessed real estate information to the first client and the second client, the method comprising:
connecting to a database of real estate information;
providing the professional with access to the real estate information;
storing a first account for the first client and a second account for the second client, the first account and the second account being authorized by the professional;
providing the first client with access to the first account and providing the second client with access to the second account;
providing the first client, when accessing the first account, with access to the real estate information;
[781]*781providing the second client, when accessing the second account, with access to the real estate information; monitoring actions of the professional while the professional is accessing the real estate information; monitoring actions of the first client while the first client is accessing the first account;
monitoring actions of the second client while the second client is accessing the second account; generating and storing professional-accessed real estate information for the first client and the second client in response to the actions of the professional as the professional reviews the real estate information; generating and storing first client-accessed real estate information in response to the actions of the first client;
generating and storing second client-accessed real estate information in response to the actions of the second client;
providing at least some of the first client-accessed real estate information and at least some of the second client-accessed real estate information to the professional, thereby providing the professional with knowledge of the actions of the first client and the actions of the second client; and providing at least some of the professional-accessed real estate information for the first client to the first client and at least some of the professional-accessed real estate information for the second client to the second client, thereby providing the first client and the second client with knowledge of the actions of the real estate professional.

Claim 37 requires a “computer-readable medium for storing instructions which, when executed on a processor,” perform the method described in Claim 1, while Claim 38 requires a “system” comprising “a server,” “a communications circuit for connecting the server to the internet,” and a “component” for performing each step of the method described in Claim 1.

Market Leader moves for summary judgment, arguing that the claims at issue are patent-ineligible under § 101 of the Patent Act because “they are directed to abstract ideas and functions to be implemented on conventional computers,” making the claims invalid. (Def.’s Mem. 1, ECF No. 56.)

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Summary judgment is appropriate when “there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R.Civ.P. 56(a). A fact is “material” if it might affect the outcome of the litigation, and a dispute is “genuine” if the evidence would permit a reasonable jury to find for the nonmoving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). The party seeking summary judgment bears the initial burden of “pointing out to the district court ...

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

TEDESCO v. SPOONFLOWER, INC.
M.D. North Carolina, 2025
Tele-Publishing, Inc. v. Facebook, Inc.
252 F. Supp. 3d 17 (D. Massachusetts, 2017)
Berkheimer v. Hewlett-Packard Co.
224 F. Supp. 3d 635 (N.D. Illinois, 2016)
01 Communique Laboratory, Inc. v. Citrix Systems, Inc.
151 F. Supp. 3d 778 (N.D. Ohio, 2015)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
144 F. Supp. 3d 777, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 153994, 2015 WL 7176455, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/listingbook-llc-v-market-leader-inc-ncmd-2015.