Morsa
Morsa v. Facebook, Inc.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Staton, J.
ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS (Doc. 56)
I. INTRODUCTION
Before the Court is a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings filed by Defendant Facebook, Inc. (Mot., Doc. 56.) Plaintiff Steve Morsa opposed, and Facebook replied. (Opp., Doc. 59; Reply, Doc. 62.) Having read and considered the papers and heard oral argument, the Court GRANTS the Motion.
II. BACKGROUND
On February 4, 2014, Plaintiff Steve Morsa filed a Complaint in this Court against Defendant Facebook, Inc., alleging Facebook has infringed and continues to infringe two of his patents. 1 (Compl., Doc. 1,¶7.)
Both patents are titled “Match Engine Marketing” and share a common abstract, which reads in relevant part:
(Id. Exs. A-B.)
The specifications, which are largely identical, state that the patents improve on prevailing internet advertising practices, which largely “followed] traditional advertising paradigms” at the time of invention — for instance, through the use of billboard-like banner advertisements atop webpages — rather than “utilizing] the unique attributes of the Internet.” ('337 Patent, col. 2:19-20.) The patents permit advertisers to target online advertisements only to…