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Looksmarts Suit Against Google Tossed

By Brett Tabke on June 28, 2025 |

Google

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Law360 is reporting that A northern California federal judge has tossed LookSmart Groups lawsuit against Google of infringing its search engine patent. They find the claim describes only unprotectable abstract ideas while allowing the company to amend the complaint.

LookSmart Group, a search-engine technology company, had sued Google in the Northern District of California alleging infringement of U.S. Patent No. 7,356,530. The patent – filed in 2008 – covers methods for crawling the web and ranking pages based on user-visit probability and keyword-related content, using both “intrinsic” (on-page) and “extrinsic” (link-based) factors.

Google filed a motion to dismiss, arguing the patent is invalid as an abstract idea. They claim it merely outlines general, non-technical methods – “collecting, storing, indexing, and ranking information” – and lacks a specific inventive implementation.

Court’s Ruling (June 26, 2025)
Judge Jon S. Tigar granted Google’s motion, ruling that:

  1. The patent is indeed directed to an abstract idea.
  2. It doesn’t demonstrate an inventive concept – claiming data collection and ranking using common web features (e.g., hyperlinks) without novel twists.

However, the court allowed LookSmart to amend their complaint by July 17, 2025, rather than dismissing it outright – indicating the possibility to add qualifying details.

This case highlights the ongoing challenges of patenting search-engine methods. Courts often reject broad computer-related patents (e.g., ranking based on links/content) under the Alice precedent unless they include specific, inventive technical improvements.

  • LookSmart has until July 17 to file an amended complaint with more detailed allegations or technical distinctions.
  • Google may seek further dismissal or, if the case proceeds, move forward with discovery.

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