Vehicle Camera System Patent Not Invalid Under 35 U.S.C. § 101 at Pleading Stage​

The special master recommended denying defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings on the ground that plaintiff’s vehicle camera system patent encompassed unpatentable subject matter because defendant failed to establish that the asserted claims were directed toward an abstract idea. "[T]he claims specify a particular imaging array sensor configuration and a particular approach of using data acquired from the sensor. That approach includes a step that the patent argues to depart from a conventional data processing approach by the inclusion of a reduced image data set. Also, because the imaging array sensor is taught and claimed to be useful in a misaligned condition, applying reasonable inferences in favor of Plaintiff, it can be said that the sensor as well is used in an unconventional manner, instead of the more conventional aligned technique. In this manner, the patent purports to provide an improved and unconventional approach to addressing misalignment of the image array sensor and the resulting data."

Magna Electronics, Inc. v. Valeo, Inc. et al, 2-13-cv-11376 (MIED March 31, 2017, Order) (Dobrusin, Special Master)