Meta, Amazon Nix Claims of One Ad Tech Patent in AlmondNet Suits

Meta Platforms Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. convinced a US Patent and Trademark Office administrative tribunal to cancel on grounds of obviousness portions of an AlmondNet Inc. advertisement placement patent asserted in lawsuits against the tech giants.

Meta and Amazon demonstrated that an experienced electrical engineer or computer scientist would’ve been able to combine previous inventions to arrive at the electronic ad direction innovations stated in four of US Patent No. 9,830,615‘s claims, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board said in a decision issued Tuesday.

AlmondNet’s ‘615 patent covers a computer system related to “profile-based behavioral targeting” that aims to …