FanDuel Loses Bid to Invalidate Part of Remote Gambling Patent
Written August 3, 2020
The Federal Circuit on July 29, 2020, held that FanDuel, the US bookmaker and daily fantasy sports provider, failed to show that part of a competitor’s remote gambling patent was invalid as obvious. FanDuel, Inc. v. Interactive Games LLC, Fed. Cir., No. 19-1393, 7/29/20.
Interactive Games LLC owns the ʼ058 patent, which describes a gaming system which wirelessly communicates with users’ mobile devices, allowing them to gamble remotely. FanDuel sought inter partes review of the patent and the PTAB invalidated several parts of the patent based on FanDuel’s obviousness arguments but upheld one claim.
FanDuel appealed, arguing it was obvious based on the combination of two pre-existing patent applications and an archived copy of a webpage with a chart of slot payout percentages for casinos around the US.
However, the Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB and rejected FanDuel’s argument that the board adopted a “new theory” about the combination of the three references in its final decision.