Phoenix Licensing v. Aetna, 2:11cv285 (9/13/12)
Judge: Rodney Gilstrap
Holding: Motion to Dismiss DENIED without prejudice
Defendant Liberty Mutual filed a motion to dismiss claiming that the patents-in-suit did not claim patent eligible subject matter and are thus invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Judge Gilstrap denied the motion without prejudice, writing that "[t]he Federal Circuit [in In re Bilski] has held that claim construction is an important first step in any § 101 analysis. The Court agrees that claim construction briefing, along with supporting evidence, may be necessary to determine whether the patents-in-suit contain patent-eligible subject matter."
Accordingly, he denied the motion without prejudice to reurging after the claim construction briefing had been considered by the Court.
