by Dennis Crouch
The Federal Circuit has affirmed abstract judgment of non-infringement in DoggyPhone LLC v. Tomofun LLC, agreeing to narrowly construe the declare as requiring direct quite than oblique causation. The case entails U.S. Patent 9,723,813, which covers an “Web Canine Communication System” that permits pet house owners to remotely work together with and ship treats to their canine. DoggyPhone accused Tomofun’s widespread Furbo machine of infringement, however each the district court docket and Federal Circuit discovered the accused product operates in a different way than what was claimed. Writing for the unanimous panel, Decide Hughes centered notably on one key limitation requiring that the system “begins transmission to the distant shopper machine of a minimum of one of many audio or video of the pet in response to enter from the pet.”
On the coronary heart of the dispute is a fundamental infringement query – whether or not Furbo’s notification system happy the “begins transmission” limitation. When a canine barks, the Furbo sends a textual content notification to the proprietor’s cellphone, however critically, no audio or video transmission begins till the proprietor actively clicks on that notification. The Federal Circuit agreed with the district court docket that this setup doesn’t meet the declare limitation as a result of “transmission begins not in response to the pet’s exercise, however in response to the person’s determination to click on on the notification—making transmission aware of the person’s enter, not the pet’s.”