Racetech, LLC v. Kentucky Downs, LLC

167 F. Supp. 3d 853, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26146, 2016 WL 843382
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Kentucky
DecidedMarch 1, 2016
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 1:15-CV-00059-GNS
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 167 F. Supp. 3d 853 (Racetech, LLC v. Kentucky Downs, LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Racetech, LLC v. Kentucky Downs, LLC, 167 F. Supp. 3d 853, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26146, 2016 WL 843382 (W.D. Ky. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Greg N. Stivers, Judge, United States District Court

This matter is before the Court on Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss (DN 21), Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim (DN 22), and Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Amended Complaint (DN 29). The motions have been fully briefed and are ripe for decision. For the reasons stated below, the motions are GRANTED.

I.BACKGROUND

In 2002, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) issued two patents to Plaintiff RaceTech, LLC (“Ra-ceTech”): U.S. Patent Nos. 6,358,150 (“the ’150 patent”) and 6,450,887 (“the ’887 patent”). (Am. Compl. 3). Both patents granted RaceTech ownership in “methods and apparatus for pari-mutuel historical gaming.” U.S. Patent No. 6,358,150, at [54] (issued Mar. 19, 2002); U.S. Patent No. 6,450,887, at [54] (issued Sept. 17, 2002). In 2015, the USPTO issued a third patent— U.S. Patent No. 9,047,737 (“the ’737 patent”), which claims “web based methods and apparatus for parimutual (sic) historical gaming.”1 See U.S. Patent No. 9,047,-737, at [54] (issued June 2, 2015).

Prior to the issuance of the ’737 patent, RaceTech entered into a contract with Defendant Kentucky Downs, LLC (“Kentucky Downs”) licensing wagering devices utilizing the ’150 and ’887 patents. (Am. Compl. 3). Kentucky Downs later terminated the contract and entered into an agreement with Defendant Encore Gaming, LLC (“Encore”) for similar systems offering pari-mutuel gaming. (Am. Compl. 3).

On April 3, 2015, RaceTech filed its Complaint alleging infringement of the ’887 and 150 patents. (Compl. 1, DN 1). On June 19, 2015, RaceTech amended its Complaint to add a claim for infringement of the ’737 patent. (Am. Compl. 6). In the present motions, Defendants move to dismiss all claims pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6), attacking the validity of the Asserted Patents under 35 U.S.C. § 101 on the basis that the patents claim the invention of an abstract idea or the implementation of an abstract idea with generic computer equipment. (Defs.’ Mot. to Dismiss 1, DN 21; Defs.’ Mot. to Dismiss 1, DN 22;, Defs.’ Mot. to Dismiss 2, DN 29).

II.JURISDICTION

The Court has subject matter jurisdiction over this action under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1331 and 1338(a) because it arises under the patent laws of the United States.

III.STANDARD OF REVIEW

In order to survive a challenge for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6), “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true, to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (internal quotation marks omitted) (citation omitted). “A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.” Id. (citation omitted). “[A] district court must (1) view the complaint in the light most favorable to the plaintiff and (2) take all well-pleaded factual allegations as true.” Tackett v. M & [858]*858G Polymers, USA, LLC, 561 F.3d 478, 488 (6th Cir.2009) (citation omitted). “But the district court need not accept a bare assertion of legal conclusions.” Id. (internal quotation marks omitted) (citation omitted). “A pleading that offers labels and conclusions or a formulaic recitation of the elements of a cause of action will not do. Nor does a complaint suffice if it tenders naked assertions] devoid of further factual enhancement.”2 Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (internal quotation marks omitted) (citation omitted).

IV. DISCUSSION

A. Patent Eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101

Under 35 U.S.C. § 101, patent protection is granted to “[whomever] invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, ... subject to the conditions of this title.” As an implicit limitation on this statutory standard, the U.S. Supreme Court has long recognized that laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas are not patentable because these represent “the building blocks of human ingenuity” which should not be inhibited by the grant of monopolistic patents. Le Roy v. Tatham, 55 U.S. (14 How.) 156, 174-175, 14 L.Ed. 367 (1853); Mayo Collaborative Servs. v. Prometheus Labs., Inc., - U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 1289, 1293, 182 L.Ed.2d 321 (2012) (“[MJonopolization of those tools through the grant of a patent might tend to impede innovation more than it would tend to promote it.”). On the other hand, the Supreme Court has expressed caution in application of the exclusionary principle, “lest it swallow all of patent law.” Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int'l, — U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 2347, 2354, 189 L.Ed.2d 296 (2014) (citing Mayo, 132 S.Ct. at 1293-94). As the Supreme Court has noted, “in applying the Section 101 exception, we must distinguish between patents that claim the ‘buildinfg] block[s]’ of human ingenuity and those that integrate the building blocks into ‘something more’, thereby ‘transforming]’ them into a patent-eligible invention.” Id. (alterations in original) (internal citation omitted) (citation omitted).

In Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International, the Supreme Court articulated a two-step process for evaluating whether patent claims are directed to patent-eligible concepts versus laws of nature and abstract ideas, embodying “the longstanding rule that [a]n idea of itself is not patentable ....” Id. at 2355 (internal quotation marks omitted) (citation omitted). The Supreme Court explained:

[W]e determine [first] whether the claims at issue are directed to one of those patent-ineligible concepts. If so, we then ask “[w]hat else is there in the claims before us?” To answer that question, we consider the elements of each claim both individually and “as an ordered combination” to determine whether the additional elements “transform the nature of the claim” into a patent-eligible application.

Id. at 2355 (third alteration in original) (internal citations omitted) (quoting Mayo, 132 S.Ct. at 1296-98). This second step is a “search for 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 on the [ineligible concept] [859]*859itself.’ ” Id. (alteration in original) (quoting Mayo, 132 S.Ct. at 1294).

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167 F. Supp. 3d 853, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 26146, 2016 WL 843382, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/racetech-llc-v-kentucky-downs-llc-kywd-2016.