Patent Law Practice Center

Challenges on Intellectual Ventures Computer Circuit Patents Among the Reexamination Requests Filed Week of April 23, 2012

Here is our latest weekly installment of Reexamination Requests from Scott Daniels, of Reexamination Alert and Practice Center Contributor…

An undisclosed party requested reexamination of two computer circuits patents owned by Intellectual Ventures (see ex parte Request Nos. (13) & (14)).  IV patents in this technology have come under attack by Xilinx in recent times, and it was quite possibly Xilinx that filed these requests. Incidentally, one of the IV patents was originally owned by LG Semicon and the other by Motorola.

Requests were also against four auto-navigation patents owned by Beacon Navigation (see ex parte Request Nos. (8) to (11)).  Beacon has sued quite a few auto-makers in Delaware for infringement of those patents, including Honda, Porsche, BMW and Ford.

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Bicycle Rental Station Patent, Subject of Reexamination Request Filed Week of April 16, 2012

Here is our latest weekly installment of Reexamination Requests from Scott Daniels, of Reexamination Alert and Practice Center Contributor…

If you live in Washington D.C. or in any of a number of other places, you have undoubtedly noticed the bicycle stations scattered across town: with a credit card you can rent a bicycle to ride around town and return it at your convenience to the same or another bicycle station.  Isabelle Bettez and Jean-Sebastien Bettez own a patent – U.S. Patent No. 7,898,439 – claiming a solar-powered station.

It is not yet evident from the Patent Office dockets who filed the request.

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Google Attack on Computerized Menu Patent Among the Reexamination Requests Filed the Week of April 9, 2012

Here is our latest weekly installment of Reexamination Requests from Scott Daniels, of Reexamination Alert and Practice Center Contributor…

Last September, DietGoal Innovations sued a who’s-who of fast food companies (such as McDonalds and Burger King), plus Google, for infringement of a computerized menu patent: U.S. Patent No. 6,585,516 (see inter partes Request No. (1)).  Last week, it was Google that requested reexamination of the ‘516 patent. DietGoal’s patented menu comprises a user interface, a database of food objects organized into meals, and a picture menus, so “that a user can select [a meal] to meet customized eating goal.”

Avery Dennison requested reexamination of two 3M patents for retro-reflective sheeting (see inter partes Request Nos. (8) & (9)). 3M has sued Avery in Minnesota for infringement of those two patents, as well as two other similar patents.  Judge Michael Davis issued a claim construction order last month in that infringement action.

Finally, in what might be a first, the United States requested reexamination of a patent for neutralizing landmines (see inter partes Request No. (12)).  The inventor-owner of the patent is pursuing an infringement action against the U.S. in the Court of Claims.

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Challenge to Social Networking Patent Among the Reexamination Requests Filed Week of March 26, 2012

Here is our latest weekly installment of Reexamination Requests from Scott Daniels, of Reexamination Alert and Practice Center Contributor…

Earlier this year, Real Time Social Inventions sued ten companies, including Facebook and Oracle, for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 7,853,881.  Now, RT Social Networks has requested reexamination (see inter partes Request No. (2)), stating that it is the only real party in interest, even though RT Social Networks is not one of the defendants named in those infringement actions. 

An unidentified party has requested reexamination of an Intellectual Ventures voice recognition patent (see ex parte Request No. (8)).  There does not appear to be a parallel District Court case, continuing a recent trend of reexamination being requested against “assertion entities,” even in the absence of litigation.

Apple was in the news, requesting reexamination of the VirnetX patent (see inter partes Request No. (3)) that was recently added to the infringement case involving the two companies (as well as Cisco) in the Eastern District of Texas.

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Challenge to ObjectVideo Patent in ITC Case, Among the Reexamination Requests Filed Week of March 19, 2012

Here is our latest weekly installment of Reexamination Requests from Scott Daniels, of Reexamination Alert and Practice Center Contributor…

Last Friday a 916-page request for inter partes reexamination was filed against ObjectVideo’s U.S. Patent No. 7,613,424 (see inter partes Request No. (4)).  The ‘424 patent is one of six patents that are the subject of an ITC investigation – Certain Video Analytics – instituted last July against Bosch, Samsung and Sony.  Although the identity of the Requestor is not yet apparent from the PTO docket, it is likely one of these three Respondents in the ITC case.  Reexamination has less impact on ITC investigations than on infringement actions in the District Courts because the ITC refuses to stay its cases.  On the other hand, one wonders whether the ITC, given its focus on protecting the public interest, would be willing to maintain an exclusion order where the patent-in-question has been determined in reexamination at the PTO to be unpatentable.  Perhaps the ObjectVideo case will present that issue.

In an unusual twist, an unidentified third party requested reexamination of U.S. Patent No. 6,307,955 last Monday, and on Friday, the ‘955 patentee, Topaz Systems, filed its own request (see ex parte Request Nos. (1) & (7)).

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