Network Security Patents Invalid Under Alice

The court granted defendant's motion for summary judgment that plaintiff's network security patents were invalid for lack of patentable subject matter and found that the patents lacked an inventive concept. "[Plaintiff] argues that 'programming creates a new machine, because a general purpose computer in effect becomes a special purpose computer once it is programmed to perform particular functions pursuant to instructions from program software.'. . . The [patent-in-suit] is not limited to a specific computer program or configuration. Rather, it broadly claims any network filtering program that bases the application of an access rule on two or more sources of packetized data. All software patents, whether drawn to an abstract idea or not, require implementation by way of a computer program. [Plaintiff's] argument would result in the validation of all software patents, whether drawn to an abstract idea or not. This it cannot do."

Intellectual Ventures II LLC v. JP Morgan Chase & Co. et al, 1-13-cv-03777 (NYSD April 28, 2015, Order) (Hellerstein, J.)