The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the
district court's denial of a motion to vacate a judgment of
invalidity based on ineligible subject matter under § 101,
despite the fact that the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO)
granted new amended claims after ex parte reexamination.
Cardpool, Inc. v. Plastic Jungle, Inc., Case No. 14-1562
(Fed. Cir., Apr. 5, 2016) (Newman, J).
Cardpool sued Plastic Jungle for
infringement of a patent directed to computer-implemented online
gift card exchange technology. Plastic Jungle raised defenses of
obviousness and patent ineligibility. The district court granted
Plastic Jungle's motion to dismiss with prejudice pursuant to
Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) on § 101 grounds and entered final
judgment in favor of Plastic Jungle. Cardpool filed an appeal to
the Federal Circuit and, in the interim, filed a request with the
PTO for ex parte reexamination.
