EFF Files Amicus Brief Asking To Invalidate DietGoal's "Picture Menu" Patent.

EFF filed an amicus brief yesterday asking Federal Circuit to invalidate U.S. Patent No. 6,585,516 because it improperly claims ineligible abstract ideas. EFF Brief, argues that the patent on using picture menus stored in a database to create meals should never have been granted in the first place. But more importantly, EFF argues that the Federal Circuit should confirm that quick, early decisions as to patent eligibility are vital to clearing our system of bad patents.

Typical troll fashion, DietGoal sued over 70 different companies since 2011, including restaurant chains such as Pita Pit, Taco John’s, and Panda Express. Usually trolls go after people who are too small, or have no much knowledge in the patent laws, to fight back.
But they met their match when they sued Bravo Media, for offering the public recipes (and presumably pictures) from its “Top Chef” show. Unlike other defendants faced with the troll's lawsuit and settling, Bravo filed, and won, a motion for “summary judgment” (a court procedure that can end the case before it goes to a jury). The court found the patent invalid because it claimed matter that is ineligible for patent protection.
DietGoal appealed that decision, wasting valuable time of the courts and people to keep their scheme afloat.
The brief was filed on behalf of a diverse group of non-profits and industry associations: Application Developers Alliance, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, EFF, Engine Advocacy, the National Restaurant Association, and Public Knowledge.
Read more at  EFF, "EFF to Court: Don’t Waste Time, A “Picture Menu” is Not Patentable"