Meta Win Guts Patent Underlying $170 Million GoDaddy Verdict

An administrative tribunal canceled patent claims covering website-building technology despite a recent jury verdict upholding the invention’s validity and finding GoDaddy.com LLC liable for $170 million for infringement.

Big Tech companies including Meta Platforms Inc. and Google LLC proved Express Mobile Inc.'s US Patent No. 7,594,168 is obvious in light of previous inventions, according to an order published Jan. 16 by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The board invalidated the patent’s challenged claims, ruling the Nov. 6 GoDaddy verdict doesn’t alter its analysis.

Meta, then called Facebook Inc., in 2021 petitioned the US Patent and Trademark Office tribunal to ...