SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge has dismissed a patent complaint on the grounds that Rothschild Digital Confirmation LLC's patent was directed to an abstract idea and not added to an inventive concept. U.S. District Judge James Donato filed his order in the Northern District of California last month.
Rothschild had accused that Skedulo Holdings Inc's products violated U.S. Patent No. 7,456,872, which isn't specific, but deals with a device and way to embed and retrieve digital images, which isn't to fix a computer issue but rather to solve the never-ending task of organizing pictures. Skedulo asked the court to dismiss the complaint under the grounds of Alice, which is limited to the actual patent.
Rothschild had argued that the case was complicated and its claim was directed toward the abstract idea of associating information such as date, place and who took the picture with the image and securing it. The patent's specification focuses on computer technology. The court routinely looks for "fundamental practices long and prevalent" to figure out if a patent claims an abstract idea.
In his order, Judge Donato wrote that the court didn't need to look far when it comes to organizing pictures by date or different categories, since "these practices have been routine in family, business and academic life since cameras became widely available decades ago."
Rothschild did not argue that the elements in the product include "well-understood, routine conventional activity previously engaged in by researchers in the field," so Donato found the fact that the issue lacks an "inventive concept" doesn't need to be addressed.
Donato set an April 20 filing deadline; otherwise the case will be dismissed. However, if the deadline cannot be met because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the parties can agree on a different date.