Mymail, Ltd. v. Oovoo, LLC

Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit·Decided August 19, 2021·No. 20-1825·Unpublished

Opinion

NOTE: This disposition is nonprecedential.

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

MYMAIL, LTD., Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

OOVOO, LLC, Defendant-Appellee

2020-1825

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in No. 5:17-cv-04487-LHK, Judge Lucy H. Koh.

-------------------------------------------------

MYMAIL, LTD., Plaintiff-Appellant

v.

IAC SEARCH & MEDIA, INC., Defendant-Appellee

2020-1826

2 MYMAIL, LTD. v. OOVOO, LLC

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California in No. 5:17-cv-04488-LHK, Judge Lucy H. Koh.

Decided: August 19, 2021

ERIC WILLIAM BUETHER, Buether Joe & Counselors, LLC, Dallas, TX, for plaintiff-appellant. Also represented by THERESA DAWSON.

ROBERT LOUIS HAILS, JR., Baker & Hostetler LLP, Washington, DC, for defendants-appellees. Also represented by CASSANDRA SIMMONS, T. CY WALKER.

Before MOORE, Chief Judge, O’MALLEY and REYNA, Circuit Judges.

O’MALLEY, Circuit Judge.

MyMail, Ltd. appeals from a pair of identical decisions of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granting ooVoo, LLC’s and IAC Search & Media, Inc.’s renewed motions for judgment on the pleadings . In a prior appeal, this court vacated the district court’s judgments on the pleadings and remanded because the district court failed to address the parties’ claim construction dispute before considering the eligibility of MyMail’s patent claims under 35 U.S.C. § 101. MyMail, Ltd. v. ooVoo, LLC (MyMail I), 934 F.3d 1373, 1381 (Fed. Cir. 2019). On remand, the district court construed the disputed term, “toolbar.” Under this construction, the court again held that the claims of MyMail’s patents are ineligible . MyMail, Ltd. v. ooVoo, LLC (MyMail II), Nos. 17-cv- 04487-LHK, 17-cv-04488-LHK, 2020 WL 2219036, at *22 (N.D. Cal. May 7, 2020). For the reasons explained below, we affirm as to both decisions.

MYMAIL, LTD. v. OOVOO, LLC 3

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Asserted Patents

The two asserted patents—U.S. Patent Nos. 8,275,863 (“the ’863 patent”) and 9,021,070 (“the ’070 patent”)—have virtually identical written descriptions. The ’863 patent is entitled “Method of Modifying a Toolbar,” and the ’070 patent is entitled “Dynamically Modifying a Toolbar.” ’863 patent, at [54]; ’070 patent, at [54]. The patents describe the field of invention as relating generally to digital data networks and more particularly to “network access and to minimizing unauthorized interception of data and denial of network services.” E.g., ’863 patent, col. 1, ll. 26–29. They further describe the present invention as a method of and apparatus for (a) simplifying the process of access to a network , (b) dividing the responsibility of servicing a user wanting to access the network, and (c) minimizing the possibility of improper dissemination of email header data, as well as the possibility of improper use of network resources. See, e.g., id. at col. 3, ll. 44–50.

The written descriptions describe a user—e.g., a computer system—that includes a client dispatch application. E.g., id. at col. 9, ll. 2–3. The client dispatch application communicates with an access service by transmitting user information and receiving access information for a particular Internet Service Provider (“ISP”). See, e.g., id. at col. 7, l. 24–col. 8, l. 3. The client dispatch application may then connect to that ISP. E.g., id. at col. 8, ll. 4–16.

In addition to the client dispatch application, the user includes several databases for storing information, including a button bar database. E.g., id. at col. 9, ll. 20–23. The button bar database includes information related to creating and modifying a button bar—i.e., a toolbar. E.g., id. at col. 10, ll. 7–9. The toolbar is a human interface through which numerous functions may be initiated. E.g., id. According to the written descriptions, the toolbar “has some unique properties as it can be dynamically changed or 4 MYMAIL, LTD. v. OOVOO, LLC

updated via a Pinger process or a MOT script.” E.g., id. at col. 10, ll. 15–17.

The written descriptions explain that the Pinger is a process through which all communications between the client dispatch application and the access service take place. 1 E.g., id. at col. 11, ll. 53–55. According to the process, the client dispatch application initiates a pinger, or pinger message, with header information. E.g., id. at col. 11, ll. 44–52; col. 12, ll. 16–24. The header information includes the current user ID, the account owner ID, PAP ID, the current IP address assigned to the user, Group ID, the user’s current time, database revisions levels, and the revision levels of the client dispatch application and other related software. E.g., id. With this information, the access service can determine if a user needs a database or file update . E.g., id. at col. 12, ll. 25–28. In this way, the pinger process “allows the client dispatch application and the access service to interact and download database updates (or other information) to the user.” E.g., id. at col. 12, ll. 33–36.

The patents describe MOT script in several ways. MOT is not “an acronym for anything meaningful.” E.g., id. at col. 12, ll. 50–51. It merely refers to the script language used by the Pinger process and elsewhere in the patents. E.g., id. at col. 12, ll. 48–50. And, according to the written descriptions, “[a]s will be appreciated, a MOT script defines how to build a button bar using the button bar database [ ] and its database entries.” E.g., id. at col. 11, ll. 5–7. The client dispatch application can use the MOT script and button bar database information to build the toolbar

1 The written descriptions also describe the Pinger process as comprising “an entity that acts transparently as a ‘services’ coordinator,” which provides services, including “[u]pdate services that can perform client software, database , and maintenance services during periods of inactivity .” ’863 patent, col. 10, ll. 17–29.

MYMAIL, LTD. v. OOVOO, LLC 5

automatically according to the specifications of the MOT script. E.g., id. at col. 11, ll. 10–13. The written descriptions also identify MOT script as a way to provide updates to databases. E.g., id. at col. 12, ll. 36–47. The access service may provide the client dispatch application with MOT script and other data through a web page site, an email message, a file transfer procedure site, or other similar networking storage and transport mechanisms. E.g., id.

Claim 1 of the ’863 patent and claim 1 of the ’070 patent are representative. Claim 1 of the ’863 patent recites:

1. A method of modifying a toolbar, comprising the steps of: a user Internet device displaying a toolbar comprising one or more buttons, the toolbar defined by toolbar data stored in one or more toolbar-defining databases, the toolbar data comprising a plurality of attributes, each attribute associated with a button of the toolbar, wherein for each button of the toolbar, at least one of the plurality of attributes identifying a function to be performed when the button is actuated by the user Internet device; the user Internet device automatically sending a revision level of the one or more toolbar-defining databases to a predetermined network address; a server at the predetermined network address determining , from the revision level, the user Internet device should receive the toolbar update data; the user Internet device receiving toolbar update data from the Internet; the user Internet device initiating without user interaction an operation to update the toolbar data in accordance with the toolbar update data received; the user Internet device updating, by the operation , the toolbar data in accordance with the 6 MYMAIL, LTD. v. OOVOO, LLC

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