Remote Access Software Patent Not Ineligible Under 35 U.S.C. § 101 at Pleading Stage​

The court rejected the special master's recommendation to dismiss plaintiff's infringement action under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because the asserted claims of plaintiff’s patent for remotely accessing and controlling an application over a network did not encompass unpatentable subject matter because the claims contained an inventive concept. "[T]he Court agrees with Plaintiff that — at least in this procedural posture — its patent can survive § 101. Taking the facts most favorable to Plaintiff, the patent describes a system and method which overcomes a flaw in existing technology — the inability to remotely install software on-demand without pre-installation. . . . In other words, the [patent] is a technological advance that improves the remote control field. . . . The Court is concerned that finding otherwise would convert this motion into a novelty or obviousness analysis under §§ 102 and 103. . . . The Court recognizes that the distinction between determining whether the current invention improves an existing technological process and whether it is otherwise found in or made obvious by the prior art can be a challenging distinction. But the Court finds that here — at least when construing the facts as it is required to on a motion to dismiss — the [patent] improves remote access software in that it does not require pre-installation of software and can be completed on demand. Such a system and method solved a problem in the technology itself and thus is an inventive concept."

Tridia Corporation vs. Sauce Labs, Inc., 1-15-cv-02284 (GAND September 28, 2016, Order) (May, USDJ)