Pictometry International Corporation held two patents covering computer-implemented methods for estimating roof area from aerial imagery and for generating roof reports from satellite images using a movable marker. Roofr sought inter partes review of all claims in each patent, asserting obviousness based on combinations of prior art references. The PTAB issued final written decisions in July 2024, finding all challenged claims unpatentable for obviousness. Pictometry appealed both decisions to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The Federal Circuit affirmed the PTAB’s rulings and noted that excluding fundamental embodiments from claim coverage as a matter of claim construction is highly disfavored.
"The CAFC noted that it is highly disfavored for those fundamental embodiments to be excluded from the coverage of the claims as a matter of construction."
"Pictometry owns U.S. Patent No. 9,183,538, which includes a computer-implemented method for estimating roof area from aerial imagery by analyzing the roof's "footprint" and "predominant pitch," allowing contractors to generate project estimates without taking any on-site measurements."
"Pictometry also owns U.S. Patent No. 10,648,800, which describes a process where a user enters a street address, views a satellite image with a movable marker, places the marker on a roof, and then confirms the selection before a roof report is generated."
"Roofr filed a separate IPR petition challenging all 17 claims of the '800 patent in January 2023, asserting obviousness over Pershing combined with U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0220174, a prior art reference describing a virtual mapping system that allows users to drag and drop a location marker and then lock it in place to confirm placement."
Read at IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law
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