This morning, the Federal Circuit released a nonprecedential opinion in a patent case addressing eligible subject matter. The court also released a nonprecedential order dismissing an appeal. Here is the introduction to the opinion and a link to the dismissal.
Realtime Data LLC v. Array Networks Inc. (Nonprecedential)
This case returns to us for the second time. Appellant Realtime sued several companies, including some of the Appellees, in the District of Delaware for infringing various combinations of five patents related to methods and systems for data compression. Some of the Appellees moved to dismiss under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for, among other things, failure to state a claim, arguing that the claims of the patents were patent ineligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The district court held a hearing and orally announced that all of the claims from the five patents were invalid under § 101. On appeal, this court vacated and remanded for the district court to provide a more detailed § 101 analysis. Realtime Data LLC v. Reduxio Systems, Inc., 831 F. App’x 492 (Fed. Cir. 2020) (“Realtime I”).
On remand, the district court issued a written opinion that found that the claims from all eight asserted patents (by then, Realtime had asserted three more patents and had added more parties) were invalid under § 101 because the claims were directed to an abstract idea. Realtime Data LLC v. Array Networks Inc., 537 F. Supp. 3d 591 (D. Del. 2021) (“Realtime II”). The court dismissed Realtime’s complaints but allowed Realtime to amend them, which it did— adding material and dropping a patent. On renewed motions to dismiss, the district court reaffirmed its prior analysis and dismissed the amended complaints—this time, without leave to amend. Realtime Data LLC v. Array Networks Inc., 556 F. Supp. 3d 424 (D. Del. 2021) (“Realtime III”).
Realtime appeals. For the reasons below, we affirm.