Pursuing patent infringement claims for Kroy IP Holdings LLC, lawyers at Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery secured settlements from major retailers and survived a challenge before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. But Safeway Inc. and its lawyers at Reed Smith finally cut Kroy’s litigation campaign short last week, when a judge found the company’s patent invalid on multiple grounds.
Federal Circuit Judge William Bryson, sitting by designation in Marshall, Texas, federal district court, found that Kroy’s patent related to computer-enabled shopping rewards programs covered an abstract idea not eligible for protection under Section 101 of the Patent Act.
