Mobile Device Game Promotion Patent Invalid Under 35 U.S.C. § 101

The court granted defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings that plaintiff's mobile device game promotion patent was invalid for lack of patentable subject matter and found that the claims were directed toward an abstract idea. "Plaintiff emphasizes that the Examiner considered 'many . . . articles and publications . . . during publication . . . that relate to promotions or coupons and are directed to the same purported 'abstract idea' identified in Defendant's Motion.' This fact does not help support a finding that the claims of the [patent-in-suit] are patentable. The references considered by the Examiner may very well have also been directed at an abstract idea. . . . [T]he claims of the [patent] are directed to the economic strategy and abstract idea of . . . 'using a code to unlock a benefit[] in a game.' This abstract concept is not unlike the rules for any number of long-extant promotions, lotteries, or games, or other efforts to entice people to try a product or service."

Inventor Holdings, LLC v. Gameloft, Inc., 1-14-cv-01067 (DED September 30, 2015, Order) (Stark, J.)