Mad Dogg Athletics, Inc. v. Peloton Interactive, Inc.

District Court, E.D. Texas·Decided September 15, 2021·No. 2:20-cv-00382·Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS MARSHALL DIVISION

MAD DOGG ATHLETICS, INC., § § Plaintiff, § § v. § CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:20-CV-00382-JRG § PELOTON INTERACTIVE, INC., § § Defendant. §

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER Before the Court is Defendant Peloton Interactive, Inc.’s (“Peloton”) Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s Complaint Under Rule 12(b)(6) and Brief in Support of Same (the “Motion to Dismiss”). (Dkt. No. 27). Having considered the parties’ briefing and oral arguments at the hearing held on August 19, 2021 (Dkt. No. 136), and for the reasons stated herein, the Court is of the opinion that the Motion to Dismiss should be GRANTED-AS-MODIFIED and Plaintiff Mad Dogg Athletics, Inc. (“Mad Dogg”) Complaint is DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. I. BACKGROUND a. Procedural History Mad Dogg filed its Complaint on December 14, 2021. (Dkt. No. 1). Mad Dogg alleges that Defendant Peloton infringes U.S. Patent Nos. 9,694,240 (the “’240 Patent”) and 10,137,328 (the “’328 Patent”) (collectively, the “Patents-in-Suit”). (Id.). On February 22, 2021, Peloton filed this Motion to Dismiss, arguing that Mad Dogg’s Complaint should be dismissed with prejudice because the Asserted Patents are ineligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101. (See Dkt. No. 27). b. The Patents-in-Suit Broadly speaking, the Patents-in-Suit are directed to exercise bike technology, which provides instructions to the rider similar to an instructor-led class. Claim 1 of the ’240 Patent and Claim 1 of the ’328 Patent recite as follows:

’240 Patent Claim 1:

An exercise bike, comprising: a frame that is configured to allow a rider to ride in sitting and standing positions; a direct drive mechanism that couples a pedal assembly and a flywheel and that facilitates a smooth transition between sitting and standing positions; a set of handlebars that is coupled to the frame and that provides the rider with at least one hand position; a mechanism that provides resistance to the flywheel and that is manually adjustable by the rider to vary the pedaling resistance; a computer that is coupled to the stationary bike, that is configured to connect with the internet or other computer network to access a collection of exercise routines, wherein the exercise routines include instructions regarding cadence, pedaling resistance, and riding positions including sitting and standing positions, and that stores power exerted by the rider; a display that is coupled to the computer, that displays an exercise routine from the collection of exercise routines so that the rider is provided with instructions for the rider to manually adjust pedaling resistance, and instructions for the rider to vary cadence and riding positions including sitting and standing positions, thereby simulating an instructor-led exercise class, and that displays power exerted by the rider; and an input device that is coupled to the computer and that enables the rider to input data into the computer.

(Dkt. No. 1-1 (the “’240 Patent”) at 7:50–8:10). ’328 Patent Claim 1:

A stationary bike, comprising: a frame that is configured to allow a rider to ride in sitting and standing positions; a direct drive mechanism that couples a pedal assembly and a flywheel and that facilitates a smooth transition between sitting and standing positions; a set of handlebars that is coupled to the frame and that provides the rider with at least one hand position; a mechanism that provides resistance to the flywheel and that is manually adjustable by the rider to vary the pedaling resistance; a computer that is coupled to the stationary bike, that is configured to connect with the internet or other computer network to access a collection of exercise routines, wherein the exercise routines include instructions regarding cadence, pedaling resistance, and riding position including sitting and standing positions; wherein the computer is configured to measure the pedaling resistance and the rider’s cadence and is configured to calculate power exerted by the rider based on the pedaling resistance and the rider’s cadence; and a display that is coupled to the computer, that displays an exercise routine from the collection of exercise routines so that the rider is provided with instructions for the rider to manually adjust pedaling resistance, and instructions for the rider to vary cadence and riding positions including sitting and standing positions; wherein the display displays cadence, pedaling resistance and the power exerted by the rider.

(Dkt. No. 1-2 (the “’328 Patent”) at 8:2–31). II. LEGAL STANDARD a. Rule 12(b)(6) Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), a court can dismiss a complaint that fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. To survive dismissal at this early stage, a complaint must state enough facts such that the claim to relief is plausible on its face. Thompson v. City of Waco, 764 F.3d 500, 502 (5th Cir. 2014) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570 (2007)). A claim is facially plausible when the plaintiff pleads enough facts to allow the Court to draw a reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged. Id. (quoting Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009)). The Court accepts well-pleaded facts as true, and views all facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiff, but is not required to accept the plaintiff’s legal conclusions as true. Id. The Court must limit its review “to the contents of the pleadings.” Collins v. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, 224 F.3d 496, 498–99 (5th Cir. 2000); see also Lohr v. Gilman, 248 F. Supp. 3d 796, 810 (N.D. Tex. 2017) (“[M]atters or theories raised in a response are not part of the pleadings.”). However, documents attached to a defendant’s motion to dismiss are considered a part of the pleadings if they are referred to in the complaint and are central to the claim. Collins, 224 F.3d at 498–99. b. Patent Eligibility Anyone who “invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or

composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof” may obtain a patent. 35 U.S.C. § 101. Since patent protection does not extend to claims that monopolize the “building blocks of human ingenuity,” claims directed to laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas are not patent eligible. Alice Corp. Pty. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 134 S. Ct. 2347, 2354 (2014). The Supreme Court instructs courts to distinguish between claims that set forth patent ineligible subject matter and those that “integrate the building blocks into something more.” Id. First, the court “determine[s] whether the claims at issue are directed to a patent-ineligible concept.” Id. at 2355. However, in doing so, the court should be mindful that, to some degree, “all inventions . . . embody, use, reflect, rest upon, or apply laws of nature, natural phenomena, or abstract ideas.” Alice, 134 S. Ct. at 2354 (omission in original). In other words and as an example,

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Mad Dogg Athletics, Inc. v. Peloton Interactive, Inc., (E.D. Tex. 2021).

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