Texas court rules eDekka patent claim is ‘exceptional’

The US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has dealt a new blow to licensing company eDekka, ruling that a claim for a patent covering a computer storage system, which it asserted against more than 200 companies, was “objectively unreasonable”.

In September, Judge Rodney Gilstrap invalidated the patent, US number 6,266,674, following a challenge from 3balls.com and E Revolution Ventures.

The latest decision, issued on December 17, added further insult to eDekka’s injury by ruling that the case was “ exceptional”.

Under US law, a US district court can award a defendant its attorneys’ fees if a claim asserted by a party is deemed objectively unreasonable.

The disputed patent is called “Random access information retrieval utilising user-defined labels”. Since 2014 eDekka has asserted it against more than 200 companies, all at the Texas court.

In his order Gilstrap said he was reluctant to award attorneys’ fees, stating that he “takes no pleasure” in reaching the conclusion that eDekka crossed the exceptional threshold.

But, he said, “the court notes that the ‘674 patent’s claims were directly toward unpatentable  subject matter, and no reasonable litigant could have reasonably expected success on the merits when defending against the numerous section 101 motions filed in this case”.

“The court notes that the ‘674 patent is demonstrably weak on its face, despite the initial presumptions created when this patent was issued by the US Patent and Trademark Office.”