Intellectual Ventures I, LLC v. Canon Inc.

104 F. Supp. 3d 629, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64465, 2015 WL 2374865
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedMay 18, 2015
DocketCiv. No. 11-792-SLR
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 104 F. Supp. 3d 629 (Intellectual Ventures I, LLC v. Canon Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Intellectual Ventures I, LLC v. Canon Inc., 104 F. Supp. 3d 629, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64465, 2015 WL 2374865 (D. Del. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Sue L. Robinson, District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

On September 9, 2011, plaintiffs Intellectual Ventures I, LLC (“IV I”) and Intellectual Ventures II, LLC. (“IV II”). (collectively “IV”) filed suit in this district against defendants Canon Inc.,, Canon U.S.A., Inc. (collectively “Canon”), Olympus Corporation, Olympus Corporation of the Americas, Olympus America Inc., and Olympus Imaging America Inc. (collectively “Olympus”), alleging infringement of nine patents: U.S. Patent Nos. 5,754,348 (“the ’348 patent”), 6,121,960 (“the ’960 patent”), 6,221,686 (“the ’686 patent”), 6,023,081 (“the ’081 patent”), 6,979,587 (“the 587 patent”), 5,844,264 (“the ’264 patent”), 6,181,836 (“the' ’836 patent”), 6,412,953 (“the ’953 patent”), and 7,733,368 (“the ’368 patent”). (D.1.1) All claims and counterclaims asserted -between IV and Olympus were dismissed with prejudice on December 11,2012. (D.1.78) IV voluntarily withdrew its claims as to the ’836 and ’368 patents (D.1.81), and filed a second amended complaint against Canon on January 7, 2013^ adding U.S. Patent No. 7,365,298 (“the ’298 patent”) (D.1.89). Six patents (“the patents-in-suit”) remain asserted in the present case.

[636]*636On October 30, 2013, IV filed a motion for summary judgment of infringement and nonobviousness (D.1.163), and Canon filed a motion for summary judgment of non-infringement (D.1.168) and invalidity (D.1.167). In a memorandum opinion and order dated April 10, 2014, the court resolved several summary judgment motions, granting, inter alia, IV’s motion for summary judgment of infringement of claims 14 and 16 of the ’686 patent and denying in part Canon’s motion for summary judgment of non-infringement of claim 3 of the ’081 patent.1 (D.l. 252; D.l. 253) A five-day jury trial was held on April 28-May 2, 2014 on infringement and validity of claim 3 of the ’081 patent, and validity of claims 14 and 16 of the ’686 patent (“trial 1”). On May 2, 2014, the jury returned a verdict that claim 3 of the ’081 patent was valid and infringed and that claims 14 and 16 of the ’686 patent were valid. A second six-day jury trial was held on May 5-12, 2014 on the infringement and validity of claims 1-3 of the ’348 patent and claims 19 and 20 of the ’960 patent (“trial 2”). On May 12, 2014, the jury returned a verdict that claims 1-3 of the ’348 patent and claims 19 and 20 of the ’960 patent were valid but not infringed. Presently before the court are the following motions: (1) Canon’s motion for judgment as a matter of law (“JMOL”) regarding the ’081 and ’686 patents or, in the alternative, for a new trial (D.1.312); (2) Canon’s motion for JMOL regarding the ’348 and ’960 patents or, in the alternative, for a new trial (D.1.315); and (3) IV’s -motion for JMOL regarding the ’960 and ’348 patents or, in the alternative, for a new trial (D.l. 319). The court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1338.

II. BACKGROUND

A. The Parties

IV I and II are limited liability companies organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware, with their principal place of business in Bellevue, Washington. (D.l. 1 at ¶¶ 1-2) IV I owns the ’348 patent. (Id. at ¶¶ 15) IVII owns the ’081,-’960, ’686, ’587, and ’298 patents. (Id. at ¶¶ 19, 21, 25, 29; D.l. 89 at ¶ 21)

Canon Inc. is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of Japan, with its principal place of business in Tokyo, Japan. (Id. at ¶ 3) Canon U.S.A., Inc. is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of New York, with its principal place of business in Lake Success, New York. (Id. at tf 4) It makes, manufactures, and/or sells the accused products. (Id. at ¶ 19)

B. The Technology

The ’081, ’686, ’348 and ’960 patents relate to a variety of technologies regarding the manufacture and use of digital cameras. The ’081 and ’686 patents relate to methods for making and configurations of semiconductor image sensors. The ’348 patent relates to digital image magnification, and the ’960 patent relates to displaying data on touch screens. The court discusses each patent in more detail infra.

III. STANDARDS

A. Renewed Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law

To prevail on a renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law following a [637]*637jury trial, the moving party “ ‘must show that the jury’s findings, presumed or express, are not supported by substantial evidence or, if they were, that the legal conclusions implied [by] the jury’s verdict cannot in law be supported by those findings.’” Pannu v. lolab Corp., 155 F.3d 1344, 1348 (Fed.Cir.1998) (quoting Perkin-Elmer Corp. v. Computervision Corp., 732 F.2d 888, 893 (Fed.Cir.1984)). “ ‘Substantial’ evidence is such relevant evidence from the record taken as a whole as might be acceptable by a reasonable mind as adequate to support the finding under review.” Perkin-Elmer Corp., 732 F.2d at 893. In assessing the sufficiency of the evidence, the court must give the non-moving party, “as [the] verdict winner, the benefit of all logical inferences that could be drawn from the evidence presented, resolve all conflicts in the evidence in his favor, and in general, view the record in the light most favorable to him.” Williamson v. Consol. Rail Corp., 926 F.2d 1344, 1348 (3d Cir.1991); Perkin-Elmer Corp., 732 F.2d at 893. The court may not determine the credibility of the witnesses nor “substitute its choice for that of the jury between conflicting elements of the evidence.” Perkin-Elmer Corp., 732 F.2d at 893. In sum, the court must determine whether the evidence reasonably supports the jury’s verdict. See Dawn Equip. Co. v. Kentucky Farms Inc., 140 F.3d 1009, 1014 (Fed.Cir.1998).

B. Motion for a New Trial

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(a) provides, in pertinent part:

A new trial may be granted to all or any of the parties and on all or part of the issues in an action in which there has been a trial by jury, for any of the reasons for which new trials have heretofore been granted in actions at law in the courts of the United States.

Fed.R.Civ.P. 59(a). The decision to grant or deny a new trial is within the sound discretion of the trial court and, unlike the standard for determining judgment as a matter of law, the court need not view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict winner. See Allied Chem. Corp. v. Daiflon, Inc., 449 U.S. 33, 36, 101 S.Ct. 188, 66 L.Ed.2d 193 (1980); Olefins Trading, Inc. v. Han Yang Chem. Corp., 9 F.3d 282 (3d Cir.1993); LifeScan Inc. v. Home Diagnostics, Inc., 103 F.Supp.2d 345, 350 (D.Del.2000) (citations omitted); see also 9A Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2531 (2d ed.

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104 F. Supp. 3d 629, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 64465, 2015 WL 2374865, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/intellectual-ventures-i-llc-v-canon-inc-ded-2015.