Isaacs
Whitepages, Inc. v. Isaacs
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Seeborg, J.
ORDER GRANTING MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS
I. INTRODUCTION
In this patent infringement action, plaintiff Whitepages, Inc. seeks judgment on the pleadings that the patent-in-suit discloses only “abstract ideas” outside the permissible scope of patent protection, and therefore is invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101 .
*1130 For the reasons explained below, the motion is granted.
II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND
Plaintiff Whitepages, Inc. is a leading source of contact information in North America. It develops services to assist people with finding, understanding, and verifying personal and business identities. Whitepages developed a mobile application (“app”) called “Whitepages Caller ID,” which allows users to block calls, detect spam, and identify (“ID”) incoming telephone calls. Defendant Greenflight Venture Corporation is a startup company-founded by CEO Jeffrey Isaacs. Its technology allows a mobile phone user to identify the name associated with a phone number through a reverse lookup. 3 Greenf-light has an app entitled “Caller-ID” (“Greenflight app”).
On October 14, 2014, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) issued U.S. Patent No. 8,861,698 (“the ’698…