IP disputes team achieves Federal Circuit win for Lightricks

On January 22, 2024, global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright successfully obtained an affirmance by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit following an August 2022 ruling in which a Texas federal judge permanently dismissed a patent infringement litigation. US Circuit Judge Alvin Schall penned a unanimous, nonprecedential ruling that rejected entirely an appeal coming from an app developer called Plotagraph, writing that "we agree with the district court that the claims are directed to an abstract idea."

Plotagraph, Inc. sued Lightricks, the startup behind the Facetune app, in the Southern District of Texas for infringement of five patents related to automated pixel shifting in digital photos or videos. The court dismissed the suit under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim, concluding that the patents claimed subject matter ineligible for patenting under 35 U.S.C. § 101 (the Supreme Court’s Alice decision). The Federal Circuit agreed that the patent claims are directed to an abstract idea and lack an inventive concept, and thus affirmed.

Norton Rose Fulbright's trial team was led by Robert Greeson (Dallas) and included Stephanie DeBrow, Peter Hillegas (Austin), Erik Janitens (Houston) and Taylor Shields (Denver).