Weisner v. Google LLC
- Alvin Hellerstein
- 1:20-cv-02862
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 1
In Weisner v. Google LLC, Judge Hellerstein dismissed the patent claims without prejudice as abstract, allowing an amended complaint.
The ruling affected Sholem Weisner and Shmuel Nemanov’s four patent claims against Google LLC. The dismissal was without prejudice, and the plaintiff was allowed to amend the complaint by January 26, 2021.
What happened
Sholem Weisner and Shmuel Nemanov brought four patent claims against Google LLC in Weisner v. Google LLC.
The court said the claims alleged abstract ideas and might also fail to meet the patent-law requirements for describing an invention. It cited Supreme Court and Federal Circuit decisions on abstract ideas.
Judge Hellerstein granted Google’s motion to dismiss without prejudice and allowed the plaintiff to file an amended complaint showing patentable claims by January 26, 2021.
The detailed version
- Weisner v. Google LLC · No. 1:20-cv-02862
- Alvin Hellerstein
- Jan. 5, 2021
Background
The caption names Sholem Weisner as the plaintiff, Shmuel Nemanov as the involuntary plaintiff, and Google LLC as the defendant. The opinion refers to four patent claims.
Reasons for the ruling
The court stated that the allegations in each of the four patent claims described an abstract idea. In patent law, an abstract idea is an idea that, by itself, is not eligible for patent protection. The court cited Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International and In re TLI Communications LLC Patent Litigation. The court also stated that the claims might be insufficient under Section 112 of the patent laws, 35 U.S.C. § 112, as discussed during oral argument. The opinion does not provide further detail about the Section 112 issue.
Ruling
The court granted Google’s motion to dismiss without prejudice. It allowed the plaintiff to file an amended complaint by January 26, 2021, that would show claims that are patentable. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein signed the order on January 5, 2021.
Read the full 1-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.