Nice Systems Ltd. v. Clickfox, Inc.

207 F. Supp. 3d 393, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125485, 2016 WL 4941984
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedSeptember 15, 2016
DocketCivil Action No. 15-743-RGA
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 207 F. Supp. 3d 393 (Nice Systems Ltd. v. Clickfox, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Nice Systems Ltd. v. Clickfox, Inc., 207 F. Supp. 3d 393, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125485, 2016 WL 4941984 (D. Del. 2016).

Opinion

Memorandum Opinion

ANDREWS, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE:

Presently before the Court are Defendant’s two motions to dismiss for failure to state a claim. (D.1.17, 20). The issues have been fully briefed. (D.I. 18, 21, 28, 25, 27, 28). The Court held oral argument on April 22, 2016. (D.I. 30). For the reasons that follow, the Court will grant Defendant’s motion as to patentable subject matter and dismiss as moot Defendant’s motion for failure to state a claim of induced infringement.

I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs filed this patent infringement lawsuit against Defendant on August 27, 2015. (D.I. 1). Plaintiffs originally asserted that Defendant infringed “at least claim 12” of U.S. Patent. No. 8,976,955 (“the ’955 patent”). (Id. at 5, ¶23). Thereafter, Defendant filed a motion to dismiss alleging that claim 12 of the ’955 patent was directed to patent-ineligible subject matter and that the complaint failed to state a claim of induced infringement. (D.I. 9, 10). Plaintiffs then filed an Amended Complaint on November 16, 2015. (D.I. 14). Defendant subsequently filed the two instant motions to dismiss the Amended Complaint. (D.I. 17, 20).

The ’955 patent is directed to a system and method of tracking user web interactions and using that information to generate real-time recommendations when a contact center agent is later contacted by that user. (See, e.g., ’955 patent abstract; id. claim 1). The summary of the invention section of the specification describes the invention as follows:

A device, system, and method is provided for monitoring a user’s interactions with Internet-based programs or documents. Content may be extracted from Internet server traffic according to predefined rules. Extracted content may be associated with a user’s Internet interaction. The user’s Internet interaction may be stored and indexed. The user’s Internet interaction may be analyzed to generate a recommendation provided to a contact center agent while the contact center agent is communicating with said user, e.g., in real-time, for guiding the user’s Internet interaction. Traffic other than Internet server traffic may also be used.

(’955 patent, col. 1,11. 45-57).

II. LEGAL STANDARD

Section 101 of the Patent Act defines patent-eligible subject matter. It provides: “Whoever 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 therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.” 35 U.S.C. § 101. The Supreme Court has recognized an implicit exception for three categories of subject matter not eligible for patentability—laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas. Alice Corp. Pty. v. CLS Bank Int’l, 566 U.S. 66, 134 S.Ct. 2347, 2354, 189 L.Ed.2d 296 (2014). The purpose of these carve outs is to protect the “basic tools of scientific and technological work.” Mayo Collaborative Servs. v. Prometheus Labs., Inc., 566 U.S. 66, 132 S.Ct. 1289, 1293, 182 L.Ed.2d 321 (2012). “[A] process is not unpatentable simply because it contains a law of nature or a mathematical algorithm,” as “an application of a law of nature or mathematical formula to a known structure or process may well be deserving of patent protection.” Id. at 1293-94 (internal quotation marks and emphasis omitted). In order “to transform an unpatentable law of nature into a patent-eligible application of such a law, one must do more than simply state [396]*396the law of nature while adding the words ‘apply it.’ ” Id. at 1294 (emphasis omitted).

The Supreme Court recently reaffirmed the framework laid out in Mayo “for distinguishing patents that claim laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas from those that claim patent-eligible applications of those concepts.” Alice, 134 S.Ct. at 2355. First, the court must determine whether the claims are drawn to a patent-ineligible concept. Id. If the answer is yes, the court must look to “the elements of the claim both individually and as an ‘ordered combination’” to see if there is an “ ‘inventive concept’—i.e., an element or combination of elements that is ‘sufficient to ensure that the patent in practice amounts to significantly more than a patent upon the [ineligible concept] itself.’” Id. (alteration in original). “A claim that recites an abstract idea must include ‘additional features’ to ensure ‘that the [claim] is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the [abstract idea].’ ” Id. at 2357 (alterations in original) (quoting Mayo, 132 S.Ct. at 1297). “[Simply appending conventional steps, specified at a high level of generality, to ... abstract ideas cannot make those ... ideas patentable.” Mayo, 132 S.Ct. at 1300. Further, “the prohibition against patenting abstract ideas cannot be circumvented by attempting to limit the use of [the idea] to a particular technological environment.” Alice, 134 S.Ct. at 2358 (quoting Bilski v. Kappos, 561 U.S. 593, 610-11, 130 S.Ct. 3218, 177 L.Ed.2d 792 (2010)). Thus, “the mere recitation of a generic computer cannot transform a patent-ineligible abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention.” Id. For this second step, the machine-or-transformation test can be a “useful clue,” although it is not determinative. Ultramercial, Inc. v. Hulu, LLC, 772 F.3d 709, 716 (Fed.Cir.2014), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 135 S.Ct. 2907, 192 L.Ed.2d 929 (2015).

Patent eligibility under § 101 is a question of law suitable for resolution on a motion to dismiss. See OIP Techs., Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1362 (Fed.Cir.2015); Content Extraction & Transmission LLC v. Wells Fargo Bank, Nat’l Ass’n, 776 F.3d 1343, 1346 (Fed.Cir.2014), cert. denied, — U.S. -, 136 S.Ct. 119, 193 L.Ed.2d 208 (2015). The Federal Circuit follows regional circuit law for motions to dismiss. Content Extraction, 776 F.3d at 1346. When reviewing a motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), this Court must accept the complaint’s factual allegations as true. See Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 555-56, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007).

The Federal Circuit has held that the district court is not required to individually address claims not asserted or identified by the non-moving party, so long as the court identifies a representative claim and “all the claims are substantially similar and linked to the same abstract idea.” Content Extraction, 776 F.3d at 1348 (internal quotation marks omitted).

III. DISCUSSION

The ’955 patent contains three independent claims: claim 1, claim 12, and claim 29. At oral argument, Plaintiffs agreed that claim 1 or claim 12 would be representative. (D.I. 30 at 28-29).

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207 F. Supp. 3d 393, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 125485, 2016 WL 4941984, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/nice-systems-ltd-v-clickfox-inc-ded-2016.