DCT
9:24-cv-80395
Isaacs v. Google LLC
I. Executive Summary and Procedural Information
- Parties & Counsel:
- Plaintiff: Dr. Jeff Isaacs (Florida)
- Defendant: Google LLC (Delaware / California)
- Plaintiff’s Counsel: Pro Se
- Case Identification: 9:24-cv-80395, S.D. Fla., 04/01/2024
- Venue Allegations: Venue is alleged based on Defendant’s business operations in Florida, direct business meetings with the Plaintiff in Miami, and the Plaintiff's documented disability, which allegedly makes the Southern District of Florida the most appropriate forum.
- Core Dispute: Plaintiff alleges that Defendant’s Google Play Store and associated advertising services infringe a patent related to systems that perform reverse phone number lookups by querying telecommunication carrier databases after a call has been received.
- Technical Context: The technology at issue bridges traditional telephone network caller name (CNAM) services with modern internet-based applications, addressing a functionality gap for mobile and VoIP phone users who often do not receive caller name information during an incoming call.
- Key Procedural History: The complaint notes that the original patent was the subject of litigation that included challenges under 35 U.S.C. § 101 (Alice). This led to a reissue proceeding at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, where the patent was re-examined and issued with a modified claim set, which is now asserted in this case.
Case Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2013-01-01 | Plaintiff's OkCaller.com service launched (approximate) |
| 2014-02-06 | Earliest Priority Date ('847 Patent) |
| 2014-10-14 | Original U.S. Patent No. 8,861,698 Issued |
| 2021-12-07 | U.S. Reissue Patent No. RE48,847 Issued |
| 2022-11-23 | Alleged date Google removed Plaintiff's platform from search rankings (approximate) |
| 2024-04-01 | Complaint Filing Date |
II. Technology and Patent(s)-in-Suit Analysis
U.S. Reissue Patent No. RE48,847 - "Post-Page Caller Name Identification System"
- Patent Identification: U.S. Reissue Patent No. RE48,847, "Post-Page Caller Name Identification System," issued December 7, 2021 (the ’847 Patent).
The Invention Explained
- Problem Addressed: The patent’s background section describes how the proliferation of mobile and VoIP telephony led to the "frequent omission" of the Caller Name (CNAM) feature that was common on landlines. This left users seeing only a phone number for incoming calls, with CNAM services being costly or unavailable, particularly across multiple devices (’847 Patent, col. 2:21-34).
- The Patented Solution: The invention is a "post-page" system that operates independently of the user's phone carrier. After a call is received, the user can manually input the caller's phone number (CID) into a software application. This system then initiates a real-time query to the traditional Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) using the SS7 signaling protocol to find the authoritative CNAM database for that number, retrieve the associated name, and display it to the user. This process is illustrated in the system diagram in Figure 2 and the flowchart in Figure 3 of the patent (’847 Patent, col. 2:56-68; FIG. 2, 3).
- Technical Importance: The patented approach decouples caller name identification from the live call process, creating an on-demand service that bridges the modern internet (TCP/IP) with legacy telecommunications infrastructure (SS7) to restore a valued feature for end-users.
Key Claims at a Glance
- The complaint asserts infringement of claims 1-10 (Compl. ¶75). However, the face of the issued ’847 Patent indicates that claims 1-6 were canceled during the reissue proceeding. The remaining independent claims are 7 and 9.
- Independent Claim 7 (System Claim): Describes an "SS7 interfacing node" that connects TCP/IP and SS7 networks, which is configured to:
- Receive a CNAM query from a user terminal over a TCP/IP network.
- Transmit a carrier identity request over the SS7 network to Line Information Databases (LIDBs) to identify the correct phone carrier.
- Receive the carrier identity from the LIDBs.
- Forward the query to the correct CNAM database based on the carrier identity.
- Receive the CNAM associated with the phone number from the database.
- Provide the received CNAM back to the user terminal over the TCP/IP network.
- Independent Claim 9 (Method Claim): Describes a method performed within an SS7 interfacing node with steps that correspond to the system functions recited in claim 7.
III. The Accused Instrumentality
Product Identification
- The complaint accuses "numerous apps on the Google Play Store" of infringement (Compl. ¶70). Google is named as the defendant for its role as the "merchant of record for nearly all Android apps" and for allowing infringing websites and apps to run Google Ads (Compl. ¶¶67, 71, 76).
Functionality and Market Context
- The accused apps allegedly provide a system where a user can input a phone number into an entry field to determine the identity of the caller (Compl. ¶70). The complaint alleges these apps "return a Caller Name result, identifying the name associated with the queried number" by accessing a carrier's CNAM database through an "SS7 interfacing node" (Compl. ¶70). The complaint includes a Google Analytics screenshot for the Plaintiff's own service, OkCaller.com, to allege the scale of the reverse phone search market, showing over 376 million user sessions between 2013 and 2023 (Compl. p. 2).
IV. Analysis of Infringement Allegations
RE48,847 Infringement Allegations
| Claim Element (from Independent Claim 7) | Alleged Infringing Functionality | Complaint Citation | Patent Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| An SS7 interfacing node connected to both a TCP/IP network and an SS7 communication network... | Defendant's system allegedly includes a "third-party CNAM query" capability, implemented, used, and operated under Defendant's direction and control. | ¶71 | col. 5:34-41 |
| configured (a) to receive from the user terminal over the TCP/IP network interface a query of a caller name identification (CNAM) database... | A user inputs a phone number into an entry field in one of the infringing apps available on the Google Play Store. | ¶70 | col. 6:42-47 |
| (b) to transmit the telephone number in a carrier identity request over the SS7 communication network interface... | The complaint alleges infringing apps "ultimately return CNAM database rows accessed by SS7," which implies the necessary upstream signaling. | ¶70 | col. 6:1-5 |
| (e) over the SS7 communication network interface, to receive from the CNAM databases a CNAM associated with the telephone number... | The infringing apps are alleged to find a result in a "carrier's CNAM database" and return it. | ¶70 | col. 6:9-12 |
| and (f) over the TCP/IP network interface, to provide the received CNAM as the calling party's name to the user terminal. | The accused apps "return a Caller Name result, identifying the name associated with the queried number" to the user. | ¶70 | col. 6:13-16 |
- Identified Points of Contention:
- Scope Questions: The complaint asserts infringement by "numerous apps" on the Google Play store. A central question will be whether Google's role as a platform operator and "merchant of record" is sufficient to establish that it makes, uses, or sells the claimed "SS7 interfacing node." The analysis may focus on whether the accused functionality is provided by a single, integrated system under Google's control or by a collection of distinct third-party applications.
- Technical Questions: The infringement theory hinges on the allegation that the accused apps "ultimately" access CNAM data via the SS7 protocol as claimed (Compl. ¶70). A key factual dispute may be the precise technical pathway used by these apps. The case could turn on evidence demonstrating whether the apps use the specific SS7-based carrier identification and query steps recited in the claims, or if they access data from other commercial aggregators that may not involve a direct, real-time SS7 query.
V. Key Claim Terms for Construction
The Term: "SS7 interfacing node"
Context and Importance: This term defines the core structural element of the invention. The infringement analysis will depend heavily on whether Google's platform, in conjunction with third-party apps and data services, can be considered a single "node" under the proper construction of the term. Practitioners may focus on this term because it is central to determining whether Google's platform architecture falls within the scope of the claims.
Intrinsic Evidence for Interpretation:
- Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: The patent describes the function of bridging two different networks (TCP/IP and SS7). A party could argue the term should be construed functionally to cover any system, even a distributed one, that performs this specific interfacing function as a whole.
- Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: The patent specification and figures depict the "SS7 interface" as a distinct component from the "user interface" ('847 Patent, FIG. 4, element 200). A party could argue this suggests a "node" is a discrete system component, and that a general-purpose app store and advertising platform does not constitute the specific "node" recited in the claims.
The Term: "based on a telephone number obtained from a paging signal of an SS7 call"
Context and Importance: This phrase appears in the claims and links the lookup function to the context of an actual phone call. The construction will determine whether this is a limiting element that requires proof of a preceding call for every act of infringement.
Intrinsic Evidence for Interpretation:
- Evidence for a Broader Interpretation: The Summary of the Invention describes the invention's utility as identifying a calling party "when only the CID is known," which is "typically the case with most modern cellular mobile and VOIP systems" (’847 Patent, col. 2:46-49). This may support an argument that the phrase describes the intended use and technical context, not a strict prerequisite for every query.
- Evidence for a Narrower Interpretation: The claim language explicitly ties the queried number to one "obtained from a paging signal." A party could argue this requires the system to be used specifically for numbers received from an actual call "page," potentially narrowing the scope of infringing acts to exclude lookups of numbers obtained from other sources (e.g., a business card or website).
VI. Other Allegations
- Indirect Infringement: The complaint alleges Google induces infringement by providing users with the "complete system for reverse phone lookup via an SS7 CNAM query" (Compl. ¶72) and contributorily infringes by providing a system that allegedly has "no non-infringing uses" (Compl. ¶73).
- Willful Infringement: Willfulness is alleged on the basis that Defendant was "made aware of the reissue patent issuance, and the underlying infringement claims" but continued its allegedly infringing activities (Compl. ¶77). The complaint also states Plaintiff previously informed Google of the infringement via email (Compl. ¶68).
VII. Analyst’s Conclusion: Key Questions for the Case
- A core issue will be one of system architecture and control: Can the collection of third-party applications on the Google Play Store, combined with Google’s platform services, be proven to constitute a single, infringing "SS7 interfacing node" that is made, used, or sold by Google, as required by the patent claims?
- A key evidentiary question will be one of technical proof: Does the Plaintiff possess evidence that the accused applications retrieve caller name data using the specific, multi-step SS7 network protocols recited in the claims, or do they use alternative methods, such as querying aggregated commercial databases, that may fall outside the claims' scope?
- An immediate procedural question arises from the discrepancy in asserted claims: How will the case proceed given the complaint’s assertion of claims 1-10, when the face of the asserted reissue patent clearly indicates that claims 1-6 have been canceled and are invalid?