Claim Construction Not Required to Determine § 101 Invalidity

In granting defendant's motion to dismiss plaintiff's infringement claims on the ground that the asserted patent was invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101, the court rejected plaintiff's argument that the motion was premature. "Plaintiff’s argument that the Court needs to conduct further claim construction proceedings before deciding the motion decidedly fails. [Plaintiff] argues that there is a 'factual dispute whether the preambles of the asserted claims are limiting.' But as [defendant] points out, claim construction is presently not a question of fact. And to the extent extrinsic facts could be relevant, [plaintiff] does not identify them. . . . [B]ased on the substance of the parties arguments and the content of the patents, this Court would find that neither separate claim construction proceedings nor further development of the factual record are required before addressing the § 101 issue."

Eclipse IP LLC v. McKinley Equipment Corporation, 8-14-cv-00742 (CACD September 4, 2014, Order) (Wu, J.)