Realtime Tracker, Inc. v. RELX, Inc.
| Decision Date | 07 March 2023 |
| Docket Number | 21 Civ. 8815 (PAE) |
| Parties | REALTIME TRACKER, INC., Plaintiff, v. RELX, INC., doing business as LexisNexis, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York |
This case involves a patent for billable timekeeping. Plaintiff Realtime Tracker, Inc. (“Realtime”) holds rights in U.S. Patent No. 8,229,810 (the “'810 Patent” or the “Patent”) for the “Realtime Billable Timekeeper Method, System And Apparatus,” which it describes as a “novel computer system, operation and function” for tracking billable hours for professionals in client service fields. Dkt. 17 (“Amended Complaint” or “AC”) ¶¶ 11-12. Realtime's invention, as claimed comprises a “specific, structured front end user interface, i. e., a realtime billable timekeeper entry box” and “back end computer processing to automatically detect, time and record billable time for an individual on a task by task basis.” Id. ¶ 12. Realtime alleges that there has been “widespread infringement” of the Patent including by defendant RELX, Inc. (“RELX”), doing business as LexisNexis, whom Realtime sues for patent infringement, based on the “Juris Suite Timer” software (“Juris Suite”) that RELX manufactures and markets to legal professionals through its LexisNexis Division. Id. ¶¶ 24, 27. Realtime's claims are of (1) direct infringement, in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(a), (2) inducing infringement, in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(b), and (3) contributory infringement, in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(c). Id. ¶¶ 37-74. It seeks, inter alia, treble damages and attorneys' fees and expenses, asserting that the case is exceptional under 35 U.S.C. § 285. Id. at 27-28.
Now before the Court is RELX's motion to dismiss Realtime's Amended Complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Dkts. 18, 19 (“Mot.”). RELX argues that the '810 Patent's claims are directed to an abstract idea and therefore ineligible for patent protection, and that, in any event, Realtime has failed to plausibly allege patent infringement. Mot. at 1-2. For the following reasons, the Court grants the motion to dismiss.
Realtime is a limited liability corporation, organized under New York law and owned by attorneys Cynthia S. Butera and Celeste M. Butera (“the Buteras”). AC ¶¶ 2, 9. It is the sole assignee and owner of the '810 Patent, “holding all rights, title and interest in and to the '810 Patent, including the sole right to enforce the '810 Patent.” Id. ¶ 9.
RELX is a corporation, organized under Massachusetts law, with its headquarters and principal place of business in New York City. Id. ¶ 3. RELX, directly or through its LexisNexis division, makes, uses, offers for sale, licenses, sells, imports, and advertises the Juris Suite software, which, inter alia, tracks professionals' billable time on a real-time basis. Id. ¶¶ 3, 6, 27.
U.S. Patent 8,229,810, entitled “Realtime Billable Timekeeper Method, System and Apparatus,” was issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to the Buteras on July 24, 2012. Id. ¶ 11; Dkt. 17-1 (“Patent”) at 1.
The Patent includes method, apparatus, and computer readable claims that “implement a unique computer generated individual timekeeper entry box configured for inputting a personal code and a client identifier . .. with an automatic timer.” AC ¶ 17. The Patent claims timekeeping of tasks on a document-by-document, telephone call-by-tel ephone call, and client service-by-client service basis, stating:
The present invention relates to a timekeeping and tracking computer method, system and apparatus on a document-by-document, task-by-task, realtime basis for the purpose of generating associated billing information for an individual services-related professional. The invention also permits the individual to control the time allocated and the description for each document, whether Internet-based or local area network (LAN) based, or task, on a realtime basis through a timekeeper entry box generated for each such document and task.
Patent at 13. The claimed invention enables (1) “detecting opening of a document, initiation of a client-service or initiation of a telephone call,” (2) “generating an individual timekeeper entry box configured with an entry for a personal code and a second entry for a client identifier,” and (3) “contemporaneously tracking time associated with the personal code and the client identifier of the document in use, the client-service or the telephone call on task-by-task and client-by-client bases.” AC ¶ 17 (internal quotation marks omitted); see id. ¶¶ 11-12. Realtime states that the Patent “teaches that the requirements of detecting' and ‘generating' performed by the computer can involve user interaction,” id. ¶ 18; see also id. ¶¶ 19-20, although the Patent also includes language indicating automatic, rather than user-driven, detection of the initiation of tasks, see, e.g, Patent at 13,17.
The claimed invention's timekeeping of activities “can be performed in seriatim or by multi-tasking activities simultaneously,” and can be recorded with respect to “multiple clients, by a single individual or by numerous employees in a professional environment or business on a daily basis.” Id. ¶ 21; see also id. ¶¶ 22 (), 23 (same). According to the Patent's “Background” section, “while there have been numerous attempts to improve existing time and billing systems, none have addressed the need for a timekeeping tracking computer system, method and apparatus on a document-by-document, task-by-task, realtime basis for the purpose of generating a daily billing report for an individual service-related professional.” Patent at 13; see also AC ¶ 16 ().
Under the Patent, the “manner by which the computer method, system and apparatus may generate, track and record time may be through the use of a software program that generates a timekeeper entry box each time a document or task is being performed by the professional,” and such timekeeper entry box “may automatically appear on the professional's computer screen every time the professional is working on a computer based task.” Patent at 13. The timekeeper entry box includes a “time computation feature” that “will automatically start upon creation of a [local area network (“LAN”)] document by the professional or upon commencement of a Internet-based task such as E-mail or a research session” and “will automatically cease upon closing of the LAN document, upon sending, saving or closing the e-mail, and upon cessation of the research session or other task by closing out of the session.” Id. The box may include command buttons for the professional to pause, erase, or end the timekeeping. Id. at 14. Furthermore, the invention “generates a daily time and billing report” for the user that “can be entered directly into the firm's or company's existing accounting or billing system used for generating billing invoices for professional services rendered to clients.” Id. The Patent includes 10 illustrations or charts, including block diagrams, exemplary illustrations, and flow charts depicting the embodiments of the invention. Id. at 2-12,14. In one embodiment, “the invention detects the task being performed by the professional,” including drafting or editing documents, conducting research, and making or receiving a phone call. Id. at 16.
The '810 Patent includes 40 claims. Of those, Realtime alleges infringement by RELX of six independent claims, including three method claims and three computer readable medium claims, and 20 corresponding dependent claims. See AC ¶ 31. These are: independent method claim 1 and dependent claims 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 32; independent method claim 26 and dependent claims 33 and 35; independent method claim 29 and dependent claims 34 and 38; independent computer readable medium claim 18 and dependent claims 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 24; independent computer readable medium claim 28 and dependent claim 37; and independent computer readable medium claim 31 and dependent claim 40. See id.
Independent method claim 1 pertains to tracking time on a document-by-document basis and claims:
A method for individual realtime billable timekeeping using a computer, comprising a computer program for: detecting opening of at least one document; and generating an individual timekeeper entry box including an entry for a personal code and a second entry for a client identifier corresponding to said at least one document wherein said individual timekeeper entry box contemporaneously tracks time associated with said personal code and said client identifier said document is in use to track time for an individual by client on a document by document basis using the computer.
Patent at 17. The following allegedly infringed dependent claims are methods of claim 1:
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