Assa Abloy biometric Access Card Patent Appeal Defeated by CPC

A global access control giant has lost its challenge to 17 biometric card security patents in the United States.

Sweden-based Assa Abloy and a group of others did not impress the Patent Trial and Appeal Board when arguing that the patents in question, owned by CPC Patent Technologies, were obvious developments based on previous certifications.

(Australia firm CPC is commonly regarded as a patent troll, but Assa Abloy can throw an elbow in patent matters, too.)

In this case, CPC defended its intellectual property against a petition (IPR2022-01006) by Assa Abloy AB along with three of its corporate units as well as August Home and HID Global.

CPC’s patented innovations were designed to allow remote access using biometric authentication security. Intellectual property that is deemed an obvious development based on previously protected work can’t be patented.

This case is interesting for a number of reasons.

Apple in September was able to convince the same board that at least some of the patents at issue in the Assa Abloy case were, in fact, obvious innovations when considering previous work something Assa Abloy brought up in its case.

But, according to trade publication Law360, the board saw a difference between what was being argued over in the CPC/Apple case and in the CPC/Assa Abloy.

In another patent appeal, according to trade publication IP Watchdog, Assa Abloy is accused of trying to extort three free patent licenses from another company, Urban Intelligence. Allegedly, the Swedish firm has made clear to Urban Intel executives that it will tie them in lengthy and expensive appeal processes.