Post-Alice Decision on 35 U.S.C. 101, Software Patent Held Statutory, DDR Holdings, LLC v. Hotels.com, L.P. , Federal Circuit 2014
This is an important recent case in the history of software patents.
Defendants National Leisure Group, Inc. and World Travel Holdings, Inc. (collectively “NLG” hereafter) appealed from a judgment of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in which a judgment was entered in favor of DDR. A jury found that defendants infringed U.S. Patent Nos. 6,993,572 and 7,818,399, that the claims were valid, and awarded $750,000 in damages. On appeal to the Federal Circuit, the asserted claims of the ‘572 patent were held to be anticipated and vacated the award of damages and prejudgment interest.
On the other hand, the Federal Circuit found that the ‘399 patent included patent-eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101, and that the claims were valid and infringed. The ‘399…