. . . However, the qualifying language, "unmodified
existing," proved to be an unfortunate choice of words. . .
.
In AlexSam, Inc. v. Cigna Corp., et al., No. 2022-1599 (Fed.
Cir. Apr. 1, 2024) ("Decision"), the Federal Circuit
affirmed the district court's ruling on summary judgment that
Cigna did not infringe the asserted claims of AlexSam's U.S.
Patent No. 6,000,608 (the '608 Patent), which issued on
December 14, 1999. AlexSam filed its complaint against Cigna on
March 18, 2020—three years after the '608 patent
expired—seeking pre-expiration damages for Cigna's
alleged infringement.
The claims of the '608 patent are directed to a
"multifunction" system that allows healthcare providers
to access and retrieve a patient's healthcare data simply by
reading the patient's credit or debit card with standard
point-of-sale equipment. The claimed system therefore provides an
integrated system in which both payment and medical data processing
functions utilize the same
