Thursday, September 10, 2009

Controlling Access to Online Service is not Control of End Users Sufficient to Support Joint Infringement

The court granted defendant's motion for summary judgment of noninfringement of its "health-care information software product," because neither defendant's customers (health care providers) nor the end users (patients) performed all steps of the asserted method claim and plaintiff's evidence of the following activities was insufficient to demonstrate the direction and control necessary to establish joint infringement: (i) "use [of] login information to restrict patients’ access," (ii) "requir[ing] that patients agree to certain terms and conditions in order to use the system," (iii) "determin[ing] the user’s level of access," (iv) "requir[ing] that the patient accept 'cookies' in order to use [the accused software]," and (v) limiting information "patients can . . . access [to] information provided by the provider or that the provider wants them to see." Such evidence "shows only that . . . providers control the users’ access" to the accused software, not control of the patients themselves.

McKesson Information Solutions LLC v. Epic Systems Corp.,
1-06-cv-02965 (GAND September 9, 2009, Order) (Camp, J.).

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