Interactive Television Patent Invalid Under 35 U.S.C. § 101

The court granted defendant's motion to dismiss because the asserted claims of plaintiff’s interactive television application patent encompassed unpatentable subject matter and found that the claims were directed toward an abstract idea. "The practice of controlling access to information by verifying credentials (via well-known encryption methods) is neither novel nor specific to interactive television systems. . . . [The patent-in-suit] merely applies this practice to a specific technological environment (i.e. internet based interactive television applications) with the use of a general purpose computer, which performs credential verification. . . . [T]he [patent] claims are directed to the abstract idea of controlling access rights of software applications to access other software applications in the technological environment of interactive television systems."

OpenTV, Inc. et al v. Apple Inc., 5-15-cv-02008 (CAND January 28, 2016, Order) (Davila, J.)