Biscotti Inc. v. Microsoft Corp.

302 F. Supp. 3d 797
District Court, E.D. Texas·Decided March 23, 2018·No. CIVIL ACTION NO. 2:13–CV–01015–JRG·Published

Opinion

RODNEY GILSTRAP, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Before the Court is Plaintiff Biscotti, Inc.'s ("Biscotti") Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law and New Trial (the "Motion") (Dkt. No. 318). Having considered the Motion, and for the reasons set forth herein, the Court concludes that the Motion should be and hereby is DENIED .

I. Background

A. The Asserted Patent

Biscotti accuses Microsoft Corporation ("Microsoft") of infringing claims 12, 13, 23, 27, 28, 35, and 86 (the "Asserted Claims") of U.S. Patent No. 8,144,182 (the " '182 Patent" or the "Asserted Patent"). (Dkt No. 318 at 6.) The '182 Patent is titled "Real Time video Communications System" and it covers systems and methods for video calling. (PTX-1.)

B. Procedural History

Biscotti originally filed this case on November 26, 2013, asserting infringement of several claims of the '182 Patent. (Dkt. No. 1.)

1. Inter Partes Review ("IPR") Proceedings

On September 6, 2014, Microsoft filed three petitions for inter partes review ("IPR") challenging 53 claims of the '182 Patent, including all of the claims which had been asserted by Biscotti in its Complaint. (Dkt. No. 88 at 1; Dkt. No. 98 at 1-2.) At this point, the Parties jointly moved to stay this case pending resolution of the IPRs. (Dkt. No. 88.) The Court agreed and stayed the case. (Dkt. No. 89.)

On March 19, 2015, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ("PTAB") instituted IPR proceedings on claims 6, 7, 12, 17-26, 28, 29, 31, 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 50, 52, 53, 69-71, and 74 and declined to institute on claims 1, 4-5, 8, 13-16, 27, 32-35, 40, 46, 72-73 and 82-86. (Dkt. No. 98 at 1-2.) Microsoft then filed a second round of IPR petitions challenging the claims on which the PTAB had declined to institute in the first round of IPRs. (Id. ) The PTAB again denied institution on these claims. (Id. at 2.)

*801On March 17, 2016, the PTAB issued Final Written Decisions upholding the patentability of each challenged claim on which IPRs had been instituted. (Id. )

2. Subsequent District Court Litigation

On August 22, 2016, the Court lifted the stay, set the case for trial, and referred it to Magistrate Judge Roy S. Payne for pretrial proceedings. (Dkt. No. 101.) The Parties then engaged in extensive motion practice.

The Court held a jury trial from June 5-9, 2017. After the jury retired to deliberate and outside of their presence, the Court conducted a bench trial as to Microsoft's inequitable conduct defense. (Dkt. No. 294 at 96:1-135:20.)

Ultimately, the jury found that Microsoft did not infringe any of the Asserted Claims. (Dkt. No. 276 at 2.) The jury also found all of the Asserted Claims to be "anticipated or obvious." (Id. at 4.) Further, the Court rejected Microsoft's inequitable conduct defense. (Dkt. No. 310.)

3. Post-Trial Motions

On October 3, 2017, the Court entered its Final Judgment in accordance with the jury's verdict. (Dkt. No. 311.) Biscotti then timely filed the instant Motion seeking either entry of judgment as a matter of law to obviate the jury's verdict or, alternatively, granting of a new trial. (Dkt. No. 318.)

II. Legal Standard

After a jury trial on the merits, a party may file a motion for judgment as a matter of law or in the alternative for a new trial. Fed. R. Civ. P. 50(b).

A. Judgment as a Matter of Law

"A motion for judgment as a matter of law [under Rule 50(b) ] is a challenge to the legal sufficiency of the evidence supporting the jury's verdict." Erfindergemeinschaft UroPep GbR v. Eli Lilly & Co. , 276 F.Supp.3d 629, 643 (E.D. Tex. 2017) (" UroPep ") (Bryson, J., sitting by designation). Entry of judgment as a matter of law is therefore only appropriate when "there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to find as the jury did." Guile v. United States , 422 F.3d 221, 225 (5th Cir. 2005) ; see also Baisden v. I'm Ready Prods., Inc. , 693 F.3d 491, 498 (5th Cir. 2012) ("A district court must deny a motion for judgment as a matter of law unless the facts and inferences point so strongly and overwhelmingly in the movant's favor that reasonable jurors could not reach a contrary conclusion." (emphasis added, internal quotation marks removed) ).1

"In evaluating a motion for judgment as a matter of law, a court must 'draw all reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the verdict.' " Metaswitch Networks Ltd. v. Genband US LLC , No. 2:14-CV-00744-JRG, 2017 WL 3704760, at *2 (E.D. Tex. Aug. 28, 2017) (quoting E.E.O.C. v. Boh Bros. Const. Co., L.L.C. , 731 F.3d 444, 451 (5th Cir. 2013) ). Courts must also avoid the temptation of revisiting credibility determinations or reweighing evidence. Id. Such determinations are, appropriately, left to the jury. Montano v. Orange Cty., Texas , 842 F.3d 865, 874 (5th Cir. 2016) ("[I]t is for the jury alone to judge the credibility of witnesses and weigh the evidence.").

B. Motion for a New Trial

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Biscotti Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 302 F. Supp. 3d 797 (E.D. Tex. 2018).

302 F. Supp. 3d 797 (Biscotti Inc. v. Microsoft Corp.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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