Judge Stivers of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky recently ordered that a patent infringement lawsuit filed against operators of historical horse racing games should be dismissed as the three patents asserted failed to claim patent eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101. In dismissing all three infringement claims, the Court wrote “[Plaintiff]’s patents encompass subject matter facially unpatentable under Section 101. The only plausible reading of the ‘150, ‘887, and ‘737 patents reflects that they are ineligible for patent protection. The Asserted Patents are abstract ideas, and [plaintiff] has failed to demonstrate an inventive concept required to transform these claims into patentable subject matter within the meaning of Section 101. Thus, the claims asserted in the Amended Complaint must be dismissed.” The opportunity for companies facing the threat of infringement from patent holders to obtain either invalidate those patents or obtain prompt and efficient dismissal such as this in litigation has significantly increased following the Supreme Court’s decision in Alice. Woodard Emhardt attorneys Spiro Bereveskos and Bill McKenna are representing the Defendants.