INDIANAPOLIS - A federal court in Texas has granted judgment in favor of The Finish Line, Inc., a Barnes & Thornburg client, in a patent infringement case involving technology and methods used for selling products from available inventory. U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis held that the claims of a patent asserted by plaintiff, Clear With Computers, LLC., were unpatentable because they were directed to an “abstract idea.”
Clear With Computers filed the lawsuit in September 2012 against Finish Line and 11 other defendants (including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Tory Burch, Hugo Boss, and others), alleging infringement of a patent directed to an “Inventory Sales System and Method.” The patent claimed the use of a computer system to configure product options available in inventory that, according to the patent, facilitates inventory sales and improves efficiency for sales representatives. The cases were consolidated in January 2013, with the complaint against Dick’s Sporting Goods being named as the lead case.
On behalf of Finish Line, Barnes & Thornburg partner Todd Vare filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings that the patent claims were invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because they involved merely the computer implementation of a mental process that could otherwise be performed entirely by a human with pen and paper. The other defendants joined in Finish Line’s motion. On December 19, 2013, Vare argued the motion to the District Court, and on January 21, 2014, Judge Davis entered his order finding that the claims of Clear With Computer’s patent were invalid.
Barnes & Thornburg partner Michael Wever assisted Vare on the briefing of the successful motion. The order can be found here under the consolidated case captioned Clear With Computers, LLC v. Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc., Case No. 6:12-cv-674.
With more than 600 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from its offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Los Angeles, Michigan, Minneapolis, Ohio, and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit us online at www.btlaw.com. You can also follow us on Twitter at @BTLawNews.
Clear With Computers filed the lawsuit in September 2012 against Finish Line and 11 other defendants (including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Tory Burch, Hugo Boss, and others), alleging infringement of a patent directed to an “Inventory Sales System and Method.” The patent claimed the use of a computer system to configure product options available in inventory that, according to the patent, facilitates inventory sales and improves efficiency for sales representatives. The cases were consolidated in January 2013, with the complaint against Dick’s Sporting Goods being named as the lead case.
On behalf of Finish Line, Barnes & Thornburg partner Todd Vare filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings that the patent claims were invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because they involved merely the computer implementation of a mental process that could otherwise be performed entirely by a human with pen and paper. The other defendants joined in Finish Line’s motion. On December 19, 2013, Vare argued the motion to the District Court, and on January 21, 2014, Judge Davis entered his order finding that the claims of Clear With Computer’s patent were invalid.
Barnes & Thornburg partner Michael Wever assisted Vare on the briefing of the successful motion. The order can be found here under the consolidated case captioned Clear With Computers, LLC v. Dick’s Sporting Goods, Inc., Case No. 6:12-cv-674.
With more than 600 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from its offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Los Angeles, Michigan, Minneapolis, Ohio, and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit us online at www.btlaw.com. You can also follow us on Twitter at @BTLawNews.
