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In Adnexus, Inc. v. Meta Platforms, Inc., No. 2024-1551 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 5, 2025), the Federal Circuit held that the district court erred in dismissing Adnexus's patent infringement claims against Meta for failure to state a claim since a plausible theory of infringement was provided.
Adnexus sued Meta for infringement, alleging that Meta's Lead Ads product infringes its patent, U.S. Patent No. 8,719,101, covering systems and methods for delivering targeted online advertisements based on a user's information delivery preferences. In its complaint, Adnexus included a claim chart mapping one of the claims to the accused product. The district court nonetheless dismissed the case, finding that Adnexus failed to plausibly allege infringement of a limitation of the claim, which requires retrieving a “user profile comprising at least delivery method preferences.”
On appeal, the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded. Applying Rule 12(b)(6) standards, the Federal Circuit held that Adnexus plausibly alleged infringement by describing how Meta could use cookies to retrieve user information, including contact information that could overlap with delivery method preferences. The court emphasized that dismissal improperly relied on an implicit, premature claim construction against Adnexus.
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