A New York federal choose has dismissed a patent infringement lawsuit introduced by Bancor-affiliated entities towards Uniswap, ruling that the asserted patents declare summary concepts and aren’t eligible for defense below US patent legislation.
In a memorandum opinion and order dated Feb. 10, Decide John G. Koeltl of the US District Courtroom for the Southern District of New York granted the defendant’s movement to dismiss the grievance filed by Bprotocol Basis and LocalCoin Ltd. towards Common Navigation Inc. and the Uniswap Basis.
The court docket discovered that the patents are directed to the summary concept of calculating crypto trade charges and subsequently fail the two-step take a look at for patent eligibility established by the US Supreme Courtroom.
The ruling marks a procedural win for Uniswap, however it’s not last. The case was dismissed with out prejudice, giving the plaintiffs 21 days to file an amended grievance. If no amended grievance is filed, the dismissal will convert to 1 with prejudice.
Shortly after the ruling, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams wrote on X, “A lawyer simply advised me we gained.”
Cointelegraph reached out to representatives of Bprotocol Basis and Uniswap for remark however didn’t obtain a response by publication.
Decide finds that patents declare summary concepts
As beforehand reported, Bancor alleged that Uniswap infringed patents associated to a “fixed product automated market maker” system underpinning decentralized exchanges.
The dispute centered on whether or not Uniswap’s protocol unlawfully used patented expertise for automated token pricing and liquidity swimming pools.
Koeltl mentioned that the patents are directed to “the summary concept of calculating forex trade charges to carry out transactions.”
He wrote that forex trade is a “elementary financial follow” and that calculating pricing info is summary below established Federal Circuit precedent.
The choose rejected arguments that implementing the pricing formulation on blockchain infrastructure made the claims patentable, and mentioned the patents merely use present blockchain and sensible contract expertise “in predictable methods to handle an financial downside.”
He mentioned limiting an summary concept to a selected technological atmosphere doesn’t make it patent-eligible. The court docket additionally discovered no “creative idea” enough to remodel the summary concept right into a patent-eligible utility.
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Grievance fails to plead infringement
Past patent eligibility, the court docket discovered that the amended grievance didn’t plausibly allege direct infringement.
Based on the memorandum, the plaintiffs didn’t determine how Uniswap’s publicly out there code contains the required reserve ratio fixed specified within the patents.
The choose additionally dismissed claims of induced and willful infringement, discovering that the grievance didn’t plausibly allege that the defendants knew concerning the patents earlier than the lawsuit was filed.
The dismissal with out prejudice leaves open the chance that Bprotocol Basis and LocalCoin Ltd. might try to refile with revised claims.
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