Acera Surgical, Inc. v. Nanofiber Solutions, LLC

• Court: District Court, D. Delaware
• Decided: February 21, 2023
• Docket: 1:20-cv-00980
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE

ACERCA SURGICAL, INC, ) RETECTIX, LLC and ) WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, ) Plaintiffs, V. Civil Action No. 20-980-CFC/JLH NANOFIBER SOLUTIONS, LLC, PARAGEN TECHNOLOGIES LLC, ) ATREON ORTHOPEDICS LLC ) and RENOVODERM LLC, ) Defendants. ORDER Pending before me are Plaintiffs’ objections (D.I. 149) to the Magistrate Judge’s recommended construction of three terms in the Report and Recommendation she issued on October 12, 2022 (D.I. 147): (1) “first layer/second layer,” (2) “first layer/second layer/third layer,” and (3) “first plurality/second plurality.” I review de novo the Magistrate Judge’s conclusions with respect to claim construction. St. Clair Intell. Prop. Consultants, Inc. v. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co., 691 F. Supp. 2d 538, 542 (D. Del. 2010). Plaintiffs argue that the Magistrate Judge’s recommended constructions “ignore the plain meaning of these easily understood terms and improperly limit

the claim scope.” D.I. 149 at 1. I agree that these terms are easily understood and should under normal circumstances be given their plain and ordinary meaning. But Plaintiffs’ distortion of the plain and ordinary meaning of “layer” and “plurality” made it necessary for the Magistrate Judge to engage in construction of the challenged terms in the first place. Under these circumstances, I see no error in the Magistrate Judge’s thoughtful Report and Recommendation and I adopt her construction of the disputed terms. NOW THEREFORE, on this 21st day of February in 2023, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that: 1. Plaintiffs’ Objections to the Magistrate Judge’s Report and Recommendation (D.I. 149) are OVERRULED; and 2. The Report and Recommendation (D.I. 147) is ADOPTED.

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