NetSoc, LLC v. LinkedIn Corporation ( 2020 )

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA NETSOC, LLC, Case No. 20-cv-00483-VC Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING MOTION TO V. DISMISS LINKEDIN CORPORATION, Re: Dkt. No. 19 Defendant. LinkedIn’s motion to dismiss is granted. NetSoc has alleged that LinkedIn infringed two patents; both are related to a patent the Court has held to be invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101. See NetSoc, LLC v. Quora, Inc., No. 19-CV-06518-VC, 2020 WL 415919 (N.D. Cal. Jan. 27, 2020) (invalidating Patent No. 9,218,591, “Method and System for Establishing and Using a Social Network to Facilitate People in Life Issues,” because it claimed an abstract idea). The patents in this case share the same title and specification as the invalidated patent, and their claims are largely similar. Like the patent and for the same reasons, the ’107 and ’344 patents are directed to the abstract idea of a social network and lack an inventive concept that transforms the idea into a patent-eligible application. See id.; see also Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International, 1348S. Ct. 2347, 2355-57. They are thus invalid under section 101. IT IS SO ORDERED. Dated: June 26, 2020 = VINCE CHHABRIA United States District Judge