On Monday, Oct. 23, The Federal Circuit affirmed a 2016 decision in which Erise IP secured the first defeat of the well-known Uniloc 216 patent.
As Law360 reported, the Federal Circuit found “that a patent Uniloc USA Inc. asserted against Sega of America Inc. and at least four other major corporations was invalid, affirming the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s findings that the anti-piracy software technology was anticipated and obvious.” Erise, led by Eric Buresh, Michelle Marriott and Mark Lang, represented Sega, Ubisoft, Cambium Learning and Kofax in the suit.
Uniloc had accused Erise’s clients of infringing its patent covering a “try and buy” software registration system. According to the Law360 article, Uniloc is the second-most active patent litigator in the U.S., having filed 87 patent infringement claims in 2016. Uniloc’s 216 patent’s long run of success included the landmark, $388 million defeat of Microsoft.
The Erise team’s victory represents the first invalidation of Uniloc’s 216 patent, which Reuters described as a “widely litigated” patent in its article on the decision.
The Federal Circuit’s ruling could affect Uniloc’s numerous other suits.
“Monday’s decision will allow litigation involving other defendants in Eastern Texas federal court to continue; the cases had been stayed while the Federal Circuit considered Sega’s and Uniloc’s arguments,” Law360 reported.