Wildseed Mobile, LLC owns U.S. Patent No. 7,376,414, which covers a method for inserting targeted advertisements into broadcast content on mobile devices. The system works by collecting information about a user to select relevant ads, playing the ad, recording the original content, and resuming playback after the ad finishes. A key feature of the patent involves obtaining user data from text messages sent to the mobile device. Google petitioned for inter partes review of Wildseed's patent, arguing that the claims were obvious over prior art references. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) agreed, holding that the claims were unpatentable. Wildseed appealed, challenging the PTAB's construction of the claim term 'information taken by the cellular device from a message' and arguing that the Board's analysis violated the Administrative Procedure Act.
The Federal Circuit applied de novo review to the claim construction and substantial evidence review to the obviousness determination. The court addressed two primary disputed terms. First, regarding the phrase 'information taken by the cellular device from a message,' Wildseed argued this meant only verbatim extraction of text. The court rejected this, finding that the plain and ordinary meaning includes information generated or derived from the message text. The court noted that the specification and prosecution history did not limit the term to verbatim extraction, and that a skilled artisan in 2001 would understand that mobile devices could derive information, such as identifying a user's interest in golf from a text mentioning 'Pebble Beach.' Second, the court addressed the phrase 'provided information additionally includes' in dependent claims. Wildseed argued this required all information to come from the single source of text messages. The court found this interpretation unsupported by the specification, which described multiple modules collecting various data types, including preferences and location, alongside text messages. The court concluded that the dependent claims required some information from text messages but did not preclude other sources. Finally, the court rejected Wildseed's argument that the Board violated the Administrative Procedure Act, finding the Board's reasoning sufficiently clear to enable judicial review.
The patent claims 1-7 and 9-14 of Wildseed's patent remain invalid. This prevents Wildseed from enforcing the patent against Google or other competitors for the targeted advertising methods described. The ruling clarifies that patent claims regarding user data derived from text messages are not limited to exact text extraction, potentially affecting the scope of similar patent claims in the mobile advertising sector.
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