Lyft Axes Patents as Ineligible in Federal Circuit Appeal (1)

The Federal Circuit invalidated five ride-share patents asserted against Lyft Inc., saying an administrative tribunal was right in finding numerous of the patent claims obvious but wrong in allowing the owner to tweak several claims to overcome the rejection.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board erred in finding RideShare Displays Inc.'s updated patent claims—which describe an improved way for ride-share app users to identify a driver—achieved a patent-eligible “technological solution,” wrote Judge Todd M. Hughes for the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in an opinion issued Monday.

The claims, Hughes said, automated a process similar to ...