Automated Phone Menu Patent Knocked Out at Administrative Board

An administrative tribunal wiped out an automated phone-menu patent that has been asserted against a number of conglomerates including Dole Food Company Inc., Revlon Consumer Products Corp., and the Gillette Company LLC.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board decided Monday that Guada Technologies LLC’s US Patent No. 7,231,379—which covers “a method for searching a hierarchical menu tree of nodes or vertices"— is invalid in light of earlier publications.

Guada has asserted its patents in more than 60 lawsuits, including alleging infringement of the ‘379 patent by consumer goods companies and industrial players like plastics manufacturer Milacron LLC and metal ...