TechFlow News, February 11: According to a Cointelegraph report, a New York federal court dismissed a patent infringement lawsuit filed by entities affiliated with the Bancor protocol against the decentralized exchange Uniswap. Judge John G. Koeltl ruled that the patents in question pertain to abstract concepts—specifically, cryptocurrency exchange rate calculations—and thus fail to meet the eligibility requirements for patent protection under U.S. patent law.
The court held that these patents target the abstract concept of “calculating currency exchange rates to execute transactions,” and that currency exchange constitutes a “fundamental economic practice.” The judge rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that implementing pricing formulas on blockchain infrastructure renders them patentable, noting that merely confining an abstract concept to a particular technological environment does not render it eligible for patent protection. The plaintiffs have 21 days to file an amended complaint. Uniswap founder Hayden Adams briefly stated on social media: “A lawyer just told us we won.”
Earlier news: Bancor, an on-chain automated market maker (AMM) network, sued Uniswap for infringing its smart contract technology patents.
