Patent for Controlling Application's Access to Mobile Device Native Software and Hardware Not Invalid Under 35 U.S.C. § 101

The court denied defendant's motion for summary judgment on the ground that plaintiff's patent for controlling a mobile device application’s access to native software and hardware encompassed unpatentable subject matter because the asserted claims did not lack an inventive concept. "[T]he [patent-in-suit] describes a system for controlling an application's access to native software and hardware on a mobile device. . . . [T]he claims recite a technological improvement to a problem arising in mobile platform technology, namely the problem of limited memory and resources on mobile phones. The invention is a particularized solution to that problem. . . . The fact that the PTAB concluded that [defendant] failed to establish that a person of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine computer-based security software with the relevant mobile platform technology -- because of the limited memory and resources of a mobile phone -- suggests that the systems claimed by the [patent] are not merely conventional applications of computer technology."

Ericsson Inc. et al v. TCL Communication Technology Holdings Limited et al, 2-15-cv-00011 (TXED November 4, 2017, Order) (Payne, MJ)