Wireless Messaging Patent Not Invalid Under 35 U.S.C. § 101​

Following a jury trial, the court denied defendant's renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law on the ground that plaintiff’s messaging patent encompassed unpatentable subject matter because the asserted claims were not directed toward an abstract idea. "The Court concludes that the asserted claims in the [patent] are not directed to an abstract idea, but that they instead implement a specific improvement in cellular networking. . . . [At trial, plaintiff's expert] testified that [the manual process of call switching] formerly performed by the switchboard operator 'is now being done by computers.'. . . [The expert's] testimony at trial was merely an analogy to assist the jury in understanding a complex process. It does not disturb the Court’s previous conclusion that the [patent] 'can only be performed on a computer.'. . . [T]he claims of the [patent] 'set out a method for achieving a specific goal -- obtaining information about a wireless terminal with a dynamic network address -- by applying the abstract idea of matching identifiers to retrieve information in the cellular network.' [Recent Federal Circuit decisions] do not affect that ruling."

Comcast Cable Communications, LLC et al. v. Sprint Communications Company LP et al, 2-12-cv-00859 (PAED August 16, 2017, Order) (Dubois, SJ)