Last year, B.E. Technology LLC filed several suits for patent infringement against a host of companies whose business model depends on advertising. The patents in suit, U.S. Patent 6,628,314 and U.S. Patent 6,771,290, date back to 1998 and are alleged to protect software that serves advertisements based on personal characteristics and behaviors, i.e., targeted advertising. Martin D. Hoyle, the CEO of B.E. Technology LLC, is the sole inventor listed on the patents. On October 8, 2013, Microsoft and Facebook challenged the validity of the patents by requesting “inter partes review” of the patents in the U.S. Patent Office. Clearly, the outcome of this case could have significant ramifications for the Internet advertising community.

Inter partes review is a new procedure, created by the America Invents Act, for challenging patents in the U.S. Patent Office. Inter partes review is less expensive and faster than typical civil litigations, and provides the challenger with the opportunity to demonstrate that a patent should not have been issued because invention protected by the patent was not novel, or would have been obvious, at the critical date – 1998, in the case of the patents in this case. The inter partes review will take about 18 months to complete and, at the discretion of the judge in each case, the civil litigations may be stayed, i.e., put on hold, pending resolution of the inter partes review.
Continue Reading The Patent Fight for Targeted Advertising