Top Defense Result: Bascom Research LLC v. Facebook Inc.

Patent infringement

Northern District

Senior U.S. District Judge Susan Y. Illston

Defense attorneys: Cooley LLP, Heidi L. Keefe, Mark R. Weinstein, Phillip Morton, Elizabeth Lee Stameshkin, Lowell D. Mead, Erin Emily Pritchard, Carrie J. Richey; Keker & Van Nest LLP, Robert A. Van Nest, David J. Silbert, Ashok Ramani, Daniel E. Jackson, Michelle S. Ybarra

Plaintiff's attorneys: Blankingship & Keith PC, John A.C. Keith , William B. Porter; Russ August & Kabat, Marc A. Fenster, Dorian Seawind Berger, Brian David Ledahl

Cooley LLP and Keker & Van Nest LLP used a 2014 U.S. Supreme Court decision to prove that patents in lawsuits against Facebook Inc. and LinkedIn Corp. were invalid based on subject matter ineligibility.

Senior U.S. District Judge Susan Y. Illston granted summary judgment in January 2015, ruling that Bascom Research's patents were invalid. Bascom Research LLC v. Facebook Inc., 12-CV6293 (N.D. Cal., filed Dec. 12, 2012); Bascom Research LLC v. LinkedIn Corp., 12-CV6294 (N.D. Cal., filed Dec. 12, 2012).

The defense team also convinced opposing counsel not to file an appeal with the Federal Circuit after threatening to file a motion for attorney fees.

The Cooley and Keker & Van Nest lawyers relied on the Supreme Court decision in Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International, 134 S. Ct. 2347 (2014), which clarified the standards of patentability of computer-based inventions.

The Alice ruling has been increasingly cited by defense attorneys to invalidate software and computer-implemented technology of patent protection at the earliest stages of an infringement lawsuit, and Bascom Research case was an early example of this successful defense strategy.

Bascom had simultaneously filed identical claims against LinkedIn Corporation, and the two lawsuits were treated as one matter by the court.

LinkedIn was represented by Keker & Van Nest. The two firms collaborated in their defense of the Silicon Valley technology companies, sharing the oral argument and writing briefs together.

In a second infringement lawsuit against Facebook, Cooley attorneys successfully cited Alice to invalidate the patents that same week in January 2015.

- L.J. Williamson