Silver State Intellectual Techs. v. Facebook Inc.

314 F. Supp. 3d 1041
District Court, N.D. California·Decided March 23, 2018·No. No. C 17–03349 JSW·Published

Opinion

JEFFREY S. WHITE, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Now before the Court is the motion for judgment on the pleadings filed by Defendant Facebook, Inc. ("Facebook"). Having carefully reviewed the parties' papers, relevant legal authority, and the record in this case, the Court hereby GRANTS Facebook's motion for judgment on the pleadings.

BACKGROUND

Facebook moves for judgment on the pleadings on the basis that Silver State Intellectual Technologies, Inc.'s ("Plaintiff") patent infringement claims must fail as a matter of law because the two asserted patents, United States Patent Nos. '165 and '117, are invalid under 35 U.S.C. section 101 (" Section 101") for lack of patent-eligible subject matter as interpreted by the Alice court. Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int'l , --- U.S. ----, 134 S.Ct. 2347, 189 L.Ed.2d 296 (2014) (" Alice "). The '165 and '117 patents are designed to improve the sharing of location-based information for people with personal communication devices. To improve the sharing of location-based information, a system receives from the user's mobile device the location of the user. The system stores that location data, along with other information about the user and the user's location, in a user-specific space. Plaintiff contends that this system accurately determines the user's location and allows it to be shared with select users of the system. Facebook, however, contends that the asserted claims are directed to the abstract idea of separately storing and then selectively sharing location-based information, which are mental processes that have been performed by humans *1044for decades. Facebook also asserts that the patent does not provide any technological innovation that would transform this abstract idea into a patent-eligible concept, thereby failing to meet the Alice standard.

The Court shall address additional facts as necessary in the remainder of this Order.

ANALYSIS

A. Applicable Legal Standards.

A motion for judgment on the pleadings pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c) challenges the legal sufficiency of the claims asserted in the complaint. A Rule 12(c) motion is "functionally identical" to a motion to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Ross v. U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n , 542 F.Supp.2d 1014, 1023 (N.D. Cal 2008). Judgment on the pleadings should not be entered when a complaint does not plead "enough facts to state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face." Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007). "A claim has facial plausibility when the plaintiff pleads factual content that allows the court to draw a reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged." Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009). "For purposes of the motion, the allegations of the non-moving party must be accepted as true ... Judgment on the pleadings is proper when the moving party clearly establishes on the face of the pleadings that no material issue of fact remains to be resolved and that it is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." Hal Roach Studios, Inc. v. Richard Feiner and Co., Inc. , 896 F.2d 1542, 1550 (9th Cir. 1990).

To state a claim for patent infringement, "a patentee need only plead facts sufficient to place the alleged infringer on notice. The requirement ensures that the accused infringer has sufficient knowledge of the facts alleged to enable it to answer the complaint and defend itself." Phonometrics, Inc. v. Hospitality Franchise System, Inc. , 203 F.3d 790, 794 (Fed. Cir. 2000).

B. Patent Eligibility.

1. Principles of Patent Eligibility and Abstractness.

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Silver State Intellectual Techs. v. Facebook Inc., 314 F. Supp. 3d 1041 (N.D. Cal. 2018).

314 F. Supp. 3d 1041 (Silver State Intellectual Techs. v. Facebook Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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