Thursday, January 15, 2015

Anonymous Loan Shopping Patents Invalid Under Alice

The court granted defendant's motion for summary judgment that plaintiff's anonymous loan shopping patents were invalid for lack of patentable subject matter. "[T]he claims are directed to the idea of allowing users to assess their borrowing ability without revealing their identities to the lenders until they wish to do so. . . . [T]he Court agrees that the claims lack an 'inventive' concept sufficient to transform that abstract idea into a patentable invention. . . . Nothing in the [patent’s] claims 'purport[s] to improve the functioning of the computer itself.' They do not 'effect an improvement in any other technology or technical field.'. . . Nor do the claims solve a challenge particular to the internet. . . . Nor are the claims adequately tied to 'particular machines.'"

Mortgage Grader, Inc. v. Costco Wholesale Corporation et al, 8-13-cv-00043 (CACD January 12, 2015, Order) (Guilford, J.)

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