Access Denied: Patent For Controlling Entry Found Ineligible Under Section 101

Earlier this month in Luxer Corp. v. Package Concierge, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware found that U.S. Patent No. 11,625,675 was ineligible under Section 101. In assessing the defendant's motion to dismiss, the court determined that the claimed invention was "generally directed to a system and method for controlling electronic locks for locking a door of a storage room that is part of a building" – an abstract idea – and did not contain an inventive concept.

The patent specification describes a lock interface that determines "whether the credentials of a person attempting to access a package storage room are authentic" and, if authentic, "a signal is sent to an electronic lock to allow access to the package storage room."