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AUGUST 23RD, 2010
Jury Invalidates One of EFF's 'Most Wanted' Patents
News Update by Julie Samuels

Good news in the fight against bad software patents: a jury in the Eastern District of Texas recently found the Firepond/Polaris patent (U.S. Patent No. 6,411,947) invalid. This patent was on EFF's “Most Wanted” list, targeted because it claimed nothing more than a system using natural language processing to respond to customers' online inquires by email.

EFF was not involved in this case, in which Bright Response, LLC — the technical owner of the patent — sued Google, Inc., Yahoo!, Inc. and eight other companies, alleging that Google's AdWords and Yahoo!'s Sponsored Search infringes the Firepond/Polaris patent. The jury found three of the patent's claims invalid based on the public use bar, obviousness, and for lacking written description. The jury also found that neither Google nor Yahoo! infringed those claims. Finally, the jury found the entire patent invalid due to improper inventorship.

In addition to the jury's findings, the Patent and Trademark Office is nearing completion of a reexamination of the patent, instituted by Google, that narrows the scope of that patent's claims.

“This is a great outcome and good news for people and developers who create new products related to customer service or email,” said Patrick King, one of the attorneys assisting EFF on this matter.
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