By Memorandum Opinion entered by The Honorable Leonard P. Stark in Buysafe, Inc. v. Google Inc., C.A. No. 11-1282-LPS (D.Del., July 29, 2013), the Court granted Defendant Google, Inc.’s (“Google”) motion for judgment on the pleadings under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(c). In doing so, the Court concluded that the patent-in-suit, U.S. Patent No. 7,644,019 (“the ‘019 patent”), is invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because it is directed to non-patent eligible subject matter. Id. at 1.
Specifically, the Court agreed with Google that the asserted claims are not patent eligible because they: (1) fail the machine-or-transformation test set forth in Bilski; and (2) are directed to an abstract idea. Id. at 4-9. The Court noted that “[a]llowing Plaintiff to patent the general concept of performance guaranties would effectively grant a monopoly over an abstract idea.” Id. at 9.
A complete copy of the Memorandum Opinion is attached.