Plaintiff GPNE Corporation (“GPNE”) filed a patent infringement action against Apple. As part of its case, GPNE wanted to retain two experts, Ghobad Heidari and Kamran Etemad, and Apple objected for two reasons. First, as explained by the court, Apple argued that if Heidari and Etemad are given access to…
Articles Posted in N.D. California
Infringement Expert Excluded Where Expert Did Nothing More Than Parrot Claim Language in Infringement Analysis
Plantronics, Inc. (“Plantronics”) filed a patent infringement action against ALIPH, Inc. (“ALIPH”). After expert reports were submitted, ALIPH moved to exclude the expert report of Plantronics’ infringement expert. At the heart of the action is the fit of ear buds in a human ear. However, the district court found that…
Emblaze v. Apple: Court Declines to Stay the Case Pending the United States Supreme Court’s Decision in Akamai v. Limelight Networks
In this patent infringement action between Emblaze and Apple, Apple filed a motion to stay the case pending the recent grant of certiorari in Akamai v. Limelight Networks. In Akamai, a divided en banc Federal Circuit panel held that Akamai did not have to prove that any Limelight customer directly…
PersonalWeb v. Google: Duty to Preserve Emails Began When Patent Was Acquired
PersonalWeb Technologies, LLC (“PersonalWeb”) filed a patent infringement action against Google for infringement of its “Truenames” patents. Google filed a motion for sanctions based on a contention that PersonalWeb systematically deleted relevant emails when it reasonably anticipated litigation. PersonalWeb opposed the motion arguing that it had an email retention policy…
Apple v. Samsung Sanction Decision: the Bark Is Worse Than the Bite as Apple and Nokia Overreach in Their Request for Sanctions
To resolve Apple and Nokia’s request for sanctions against Samsung from Samsung’s violation of a protective order, the court ordered written discovery and depositions to determine the extent of the violation. After discovery and several hearing, the court began its analysis by noting that “[a] junior associate missing one redaction…
Potter Voice v. Apple: Claims for Willfulness Survive Motion to Dismiss Where Siri Inventors Allegedly Knew of Patent Prior to Employment with Apple
Potter Voice filed a patent infringement action against Apple, alleging infringement of U.S. Patent No. 5,729,659 (the ‘659 patent) through Apple products containing Siri. In 2010, Apple acquired a corporation called Siri, Inc., which in 2007 “spun off” from SRI International, the company that invented the Siri product now used…
Communication That Was Business Communication Could Not Be Protected by Attorney-Client Privilege But Could be Protected by Spousal Privilege
Flatworld Interactives (“Flatworld”) filed a patent infringement action against Apple Inc. (“Apple”). During the litigation, Apple sought the production of several documents that Flatworld claimed were protected by the attorney-client privilege and the spousal privilege. In particular, Flatworld asserted the attorney-client privilege and the spousal privilege for certain documents. In…
District Court Declines to Vacate Claim Construction Order After Settlement Agreement
After Single Touch Interactive, Inc. (“Single Touch”) and Zoove Corporation (“Zoove”) reached a settlement in their patent infringement action, both parties filed a stipulated motion to vacate the district court’s previous claim construction order. The parties’ settlement agreement provided that they would jointly request that the district court vacate the…
Apple v. Samsung: District Court Denies Samsung’s Emergency Renewed Motion for Stay Pending Reexamination of Apple’s Patent
In the continuing battle between Apple and Samsung, Samsung recently filed an emergency motion to stay pending reexamination of an Apple patent. To analyze whether the stay was appropriate, the district court provided an overview of the litigation beginning with the filing of Apple’s complaint against Samsung in April 2011…
Apple v. Samsung: District Court Strikes Part of Samsung’s Expert’s Report on Damages
As Apple and Samsung prepare for a new trial on damages, Apple filed a motion to exclude part of the damage calculation set forth in Samsung’s updated expert report on damages. In particular, Apple moved to exclude the damage calculation pertaining to the Samsung Gem phone on the ground that…