In this patent infringement action, T-Mobile sought email discovery from seventeen named inventors of the asserted patents and the licensing executives involved in the parties’ FRAND negotiations. T-Mobile asserted that the discovery could reveal the inventors’ contemporaneous understanding of the invention and whether T-Mobile is an unwilling FRAND licensee. T-Mobile…
Articles Posted by Stan Gibson
Unwired v. Apple: District Court Sanctions Unwired for Failing to Produce Supplemental Information after Remand
During this patent infringement action, Apple filed a motion for discovery sanctions based on a failure to produce documents after a remand. The parties apparently had agreed to limited discovery post-remand, but a dispute arose over whether discovery before remand should be supplemented or corrected. As the district court explained,…
District Court Granted Voluntary Motion to Dismiss Against Named Defendant But Disallowed Reservation of Rights as to Unnamed Third Parties
In this patent infringement action, Plaintiff Wright’s Well Control Services, LLC (WWCS) filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss defendant Christopher Mancini pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(2) with prejudice, but with a “reservation of all rights and actions against co-defendant Oceaneering International, Inc., and any other parties and…
District Court Denies Motion for Exceptional Case and for Attorney’s Fees after Trial
After the defendants Ingenico S.A.’s, Ingenico Corp.’s, and Ingenico Inc.’s (the “Ingenico Defendants”) prevailed at trial, the defendants filed a Motion to Declare this an Exceptional Case and For Attorney’s Fees Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 285. The district court began its analysis by noting that “[d]istrict courts may determine…
District Court Denies Ex Parte Motion to Compel Third Party to Produce Documents Where Plaintiff Waited too Long to File Motion
The plaintiff Alexsam, Inc. (“Alexsam”) filed an ex parte application to compel compliance with a subpoena to produce documents against a third party to the action, MasterCard. Alexsam had first served a Rule 45 subpoena on MasterCard several months earlier but had not received the documents it requested. Alexsam contended…
District Court Precludes New Substitute Witness for Failure to Timely Disclose
As trial approached in this patent infringement action, the plaintiff, 511 Innovations, Inc., filed a motion to exclude a witness at trial, Tim Benner from testifying at trial. The motion asserted that the defendant, Samsung, “did not make any written disclosure of Dr. Tim Benner as a potential witness, or…
District Court Denies Request to Change Expert Date Based on Change in Defense Counsel
Plaintiff Genes Industry, Inc. (“Genes”) filed a patent infringement action against Defendant Custom Blinds and Components, Inc. (“Custom”). The patent discloses a winding wheel for use on window coverings. Custom filed a motion to continue its expert report deadlines from November 28, 2016 to February 10, 2017, and to continue…
District Court Stays Case Pending Inter Partes Review After Non-Petitioning Defendant Agrees to be Bound by Estoppel Provisions
In a previous order, the district court granted a motion to stay pending Inter Partes Review (“IPR”) but deferred ruling on the Motion to Stay with respect to EMC Corporation “until EMC Corporation has filed a Notice with the Court indicating whether it is bound by the statutory estoppel provisions…
District Court Excludes Damage Expert for Failure to Apportion But Gives Expert One More Opportunity to Supplement Report
In this patent infringement action, Plaid sought to exclude the entirety of the plaintiff’s damage expert’s, Robinson’s, reasonable royalty analysis as based on an apportionment “plucked out of thin air.” Yodlee opposed the motion and asserted that its apportionment methodology was justified by the facts of the case. The district…
District Court Denies Motion to Compel Inadvertently Produced Privileged Documents
In this patent infringement action, Teva inadvertently produced documents to Sunovion. Teva subsequently attempted to claw back the documents under the parties’ protective order. Sunovion moved to compel the inadvertently produced documents. In analyzing the motion to compel, the district court noted that it had “reviewed the parties’ submissions, the…