Asserted Claims of Fleet Vehicle Tracking Patent Invalid Under 35 U.S.C. § 101

A federal district court granted Finnegan client Audi of America’s  motion to dismiss after finding that the asserted claims of a fleet‑vehicle tracking patent were invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The court concluded that the claims were directed to the abstract idea of monitoring and controlling the movement of objects within defined geographic areas.

In its analysis, the court emphasized that the patent’s broad, generically worded claim language encompassed virtually any movable object, any type of geographic space, and any configurable control action. The court also noted that even when limited to embodiments involving people or animals, the claimed geofencing functionality “encompasses countless practices fundamental to managing activity in designated areas.” Because the claims merely implemented these longstanding concepts using conventional technology, they failed to recite patent‑eligible subject matter.

Read Asserted Claims of Fleet Vehicle Tracking Patent Invalid Under 35 U.S.C. § 101