Eastern District of Texas grants early motion to dismiss and
invalidates patent claim alleged to cover Linux
RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT) and Rackspace Hosting, Inc. (NYSE: RAX)
announced today that they have won a federal court decision granting
early dismissal of all claims in a lawsuit brought by the patent
assertion entity Uniloc USA, Inc.
Plaintiff Uniloc USA, Inc. is a frequent litigator, having brought
patent lawsuits against many high-tech companies including Adobe,
Microsoft, Sony and Symantec. Rackspace provides its customers with
managed servers running the Linux operating system. Red Hat, which
supplies Linux to Rackspace, provided Rackspace's defense as part of Red
Hat's commitment to standing behind customers through Red
Hat's Open Source Assurance program.
Uniloc USA, Inc. filed the complaint against Rackspace in June 2012 in
federal court in the Eastern District of Texas. The complaint alleged
that the processing of floating point numbers by the Linux operating
system violated U.S. Patent 5,892,697. Rackspace and Red Hat immediately
moved to dismiss the case prior to filing an answer. In dismissing the
case, Chief Judge Leonard Davis found that Uniloc's claim was
unpatentable under Supreme Court case law that prohibits the patenting
of mathematical algorithms. This is the first reported instance in which
the Eastern District of Texas has granted an early motion to dismiss
finding a patent invalid because it claimed unpatentable subject matter.
In the ruling released today, Judge Davis wrote that the asserted claim
"is a mathematical formula that is unpatentable under Section 101."
"The early dismissal of this case delivers a clear message that patent
assertion entities can't expect quick settlements on weak claims, a
tactic many patent assertion entities use to monetize questionable
patents," said Alan Schoenbaum, Rackspace General Counsel. "We salute
Red Hat for its outstanding defense and for standing firm with its
customers in defeating this patent troll. We hope that many more of
these spurious software patent lawsuits will be dismissed on similar
grounds."
"This is a major victory for open source software," said Michael
Cunningham, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Red Hat. "We
are gratified to have beaten another patent for open source and for our
customer. We also believe that the thoughtful dismissal by Chief Judge
Davis on a 12(b)(6) motion will encourage earlier decisions by other
courts on invalid software patents, reducing vexatious litigation by
non-producing entities and their corrosive effect on innovation."
About Red Hat
Red Hat is the world's leading provider of open source software
solutions, using a community-powered approach to reliable and
high-performing cloud, Linux, middleware, storage and virtualization
technologies. Red Hat also offers award-winning support, training, and
consulting services. As the connective hub in a global network of
enterprises, partners, and open source communities, Red Hat helps create
relevant, innovative technologies that liberate resources for growth and
prepare customers for the future of IT. Learn more at http://www.redhat.com.
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Red Hat, Inc.
Stephanie Wonderlick, 571-421-8169
swonderl@redhat.com
Source: Red Hat, Inc.
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