MacroPoint announced that it filed its opening brief with the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals arguing that five of its patents are valid under the law.
MacroPoint maintains it has invested heavily in its intellectual property, and as a result, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) has, to date, issued seven patents to MacroPoint. Additionally, MacroPoin said it has two patent applications pending in the USPTO in its continued pursuit for additional patent rights.
“MacroPoint strongly believes in its intellectual property and is committed to aggressively enforcing its rights against any and all infringers,” the company said. “As competitors have entered the marketplace, MacroPoint has continually evaluated products and services for violations of MacroPoint’s patent rights.”
According to the company, in May 2015, MacroPoint noted it determined that FourKites’ products and services infringed MacroPoint’s patent rights. MacroPoint filed a patent infringement lawsuit against FourKites in the federal court for the Northern District of Ohio (Case No. 1:15-cv-01002-PAG).
“In that lawsuit, the district court applied the evolving and unsettled body of law that determines what is and is not patentable subject matter to invalidate MacroPoint’s asserted patents,” according to MacroPoint. “MacroPoint believes the district court misapplied the law and strongly disagrees with the decision. MacroPoint has appealed the issue to a higher court, and the dispute with FourKites is ongoing.”
“Like the USPTO that issued the patents, MacroPoint believes its patents are valid and enforceable,” the company continued. “As such, MacroPoint filed its appeal with the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge the lower court’s decision (Case No. 16-1286). The key issue is whether MacroPoint’s patents meet the standards set forth in the Supreme Court’s decision in Alice v. CLS Bank, a landmark case on patentable subject matter. A number of MacroPoint’s patents were evaluated and granted by the USPTO after the Supreme Court issued the Alice decision. To ensure compliance with the Supreme Court’s Alice decision, the USPTO established guidelines and standards for granting patents that comply with the Supreme Court’s decision. Four of MacroPoint’s patents were evaluated and granted after the USPTO established its guidelines and standards. MacroPoint believes this clearly demonstrates that the USPTO, the foremost experts on patents, recognizes that MacroPoint’s patents are patentable under the Supreme Court’s decision. Therefore, MacroPoint is most confident that its patents are indeed valid and enforceable and fully expects that the Federal Circuit will agree and reverse the incorrect decision of the lower court.”
After the Federal Circuit’s decision in this case, MacroPoint said it will seek to assert its patent rights to the fullest extent permitted by law against every single company providing infringing products and services and every company that has chosen to risk using such infringing products and services.
