Network Messaging Patent Invalid Under 35 U.S.C. § 101

The magistrate judge recommended granting defendants' motion to dismiss because the asserted claims of plaintiff’s network messaging patent encompassed unpatentable subject matter and found that the claims were directed toward an abstract idea. "[T]he purpose of the [patent-in-suit] -- i.e., what the [patent] is trying to achieve -- is to incentivize an end user to acknowledge the receipt of a message. . . . This finding is not changed by the fact that the claims of the [patent] recite limiting network access until a recipient acknowledges a message. . . . Limiting access of end users is merely the manner by which the claims achieve their purpose. . . . The commercial practice of incentivizing an end user to acknowledge the receipt of a message is both well-known and historically longstanding. . . . One such example is the practice of sending mail as U.S. Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested. . . . [T]he host of a website can incentivize a visitor to accept a 'Terms of Use' agreement, thus acknowledging the receipt of that message, by restricting access to the website until the visitor accepts the agreement."

Network Apparel Group, LP v. Airwave Networks Incorporated, 6-15-cv-00134 (TXWD December 30, 2015, Order) (Manske, M.J.)