Arnold & Porter Wins Dismissal of Digital Fingerprinting Patent Infringement Claims Against Google

SAN FRANCISCO, September 29, 2015 -- Arnold & Porter LLP recently obtained the summary dismissal of a federal lawsuit brought by a company alleging Google Inc. infringed five patents related to digital fingerprinting techniques. California's U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers invalidated the patents under 35 U.S.C. § 101 following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International that abstract ideas implemented using generic computer components are not patent-eligible.

In granting Google's motion for judgment on the pleadings, the court found that the asserted claims did not involve an inventive concept. Rather, they were directed to routine computer components and methods, not unlike general purpose computers and databases, to more efficiently accomplish a task capable of human performance. Simply adding limitations involving the use of general purpose computer components to an otherwise abstract concept, the court determined, does not add up to an inventive concept that can be patented.

The firm’s legal team for Google Inc. included Michael Berta and Nicholas Lee.  The case is Blue Spike LLC v. Google Inc., case number 4:14-cv-01650, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.