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A. Aleksandravicius / Shutterstock.com (FitBit, pictured)
7 March 2016Americas

Jawbone’s patents cover ‘ineligible subject matter’, ITC says

The International Trade Commission (ITC) has invalidated two patents owned by Jawbone because they cover “ineligible subject matter”, dealing a blow to the wearable fitness company in its legal battle with rival Fitbit.

Fitbit challenged two patents, US numbers 8,398,546 and 8,446,275, following Jawbone’s complaint that Fitbit imported devices into the US that infringed six of its patents.

Fitbit argued that the ‘546 patent covers the abstract idea of weight loss and the implementation of that concept onto a fitness device.

The ‘275 patent, Fitbit said, merely covers a compilation of users’ health data and communicates it back and was a “basic and abstract concept”.

Both patents failed to disclose an inventive concept, it added.

The ITC, in a ruling handed down on March 3, agreed with both of Fitbit’s challenges.

“In sum, the subject matter of the ‘546 patent is the collection and manipulation of information, not any specific, innovative technological means for performing these functions,” the ITC said.

It added that the ‘275 patent claims “the use of conventional electronic and computing technology to implement an abstract idea: using target scores to monitor health and wellness.”

Both parties are also facing off at the US District Court for the Northern District of California, where Jawbone has filed infringement claims centring on the same six patents.

Earlier this year, Judge Haywood Gilliam granted a “rare” stay to Jawbone, after it requested postponement of the case pending a decision from the ITC.

Gilliam issued the order despite having concerns that such a decision might encourage “forum shopping” and “gamesmanship”.


More on this story

Americas
2 November 2015   Wearable technology company Fitbit has accused competitor Aliphcom of infringing a number of its patents covering devices that record an individual’s fitness.
Americas
6 January 2016   A US district court has ordered a stay in a patent infringement case between Jawbone and Fitbit as the International Trade Commission is due to issue its ruling on another case centring on the same patents.

More on this story

Americas
2 November 2015   Wearable technology company Fitbit has accused competitor Aliphcom of infringing a number of its patents covering devices that record an individual’s fitness.
Americas
6 January 2016   A US district court has ordered a stay in a patent infringement case between Jawbone and Fitbit as the International Trade Commission is due to issue its ruling on another case centring on the same patents.