Neochloris, Inc. v. Emerson Process Management LLLP

140 F. Supp. 3d 763, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138957, 2015 WL 5951753
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedOctober 13, 2015
DocketNo. 14 C 9680
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 140 F. Supp. 3d 763 (Neochloris, Inc. v. Emerson Process Management LLLP) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Neochloris, Inc. v. Emerson Process Management LLLP, 140 F. Supp. 3d 763, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138957, 2015 WL 5951753 (N.D. Ill. 2015).

Opinion

Memorandum Opinion and Order

Honorable Edmond E. Chang, United States District Judge

I. Introduction

Plaintiff Neochloris owns patent number 6,845,336 (the '336 patent) for a “Water Treatment Watering System” and brings this infringement action against Defendants Emerson Process Management LLLP and CITGO Petroleum Corporation.1 Defendants jointly moved for . summary judgment, arguing that the '336 patent is invalid because it covers non-patentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101. For the reasons discussed below, Defendants’ motion for summary judgment is granted because the '336 patent protects an abstract idea that is not patentable under Section 101.

II. Background

Neochloris is an Illinois corporation that “develop[s] environmental technologies for public health, homeland security, and environmental protection applications.” R. 36, PL’s Resp. at 1. Neochloris owns the '336 patent, which covers a water treatment monitoring system that measures water quality, sends data through a computer network, and alarms users when certain events are triggered. R. 35-3, Defs.’ Br., Exh. A, '336 Patent. On January 6, 2015, Neochloris alleged that Emerson and CIT-GO (Emerson’s customer) were infringing “at least claims 13 and 17” of the '336 patent by using Delta V, Emerson’s systems-monitoring technology. R. 18, PL’s Am. Compl. ¶¶ 3-24, 27. Neochloris claimed that Emerson indirectly infringed the '336 patent by inducing Delta V users (such as CITGO) to infringe the patent and that Emerson also contributorily infringed by “instructing, aiding, assisting, authorizing, advertising, marketing, promoting, providing and/or encouraging the ... sale and use of the Delta V system.” Id. ¶¶ 25-31. Neochloris also alleged that CITGO directly infringed the ’336 patent by using the Delta V system across the United States, including at its refinery in Lemont, Illinois. Id. ¶¶ 32-35. During a status hearing, the parties jointly requested a stay of discovery to permit Defendants to file a summary judgment motion on invalidity under Section 101. R. 33, Minute Entry dated 2/18/15. The Court granted the request, id., and Defendants filed this joint motion for summary judgment;

A. The '336 Patent

The Patent and Trademark Office issued the '336 patent to inventors Prasad Kodu-kula and Charles Stack in 2005. '336 Patent. The '336 patent describes a system of monitoring water quality at water treatment plants. Id. Sensors collect information such as water temperature, pH levels, [767]*767flow rates, carbon dioxide concentrations, and pollution levels. Id. 3:23-30. This information is then sent to a remote monitoring facility through an internet connection or “broadband communication uplink.” Id. 3:14-19. The monitoring system reviews the data and sends an alert when there is a “process failure” or when the data falls outside of a preselected range. Id. 4:37-43.

Neochloris alleges infringement of “at least claims 13 and 17” of the patent. Pl.’s Am. Compl. ¶ 27. Claim 13 describes the process for monitoring the water and sending out alarms:

13. A process for real-time monitoring of a water treatment facility comprising the steps of:
a) collecting operational data from said facility;
b) providing a monitoring computer at a remote location from the facility;
c) transferring said data over internet communication lines to the computer;
d) providing software with the monitoring computer to operably analyze the data and to detect ongoing and predict future waste water treatment process failure events; and
e) sending an alarm signal from the monitoring computer to the facility to provide warning of the process failure events.

’336 Patent 13:3-17. Claim 17 outlines a similar process, but adds a hierarchal alarm system:

17. A process for real-time monitoring of a water treatment facility comprising the steps of:
a) collecting operational data from said facility;
b) providing a monitoring computer at a remote location from the facility;
e) transferring said data over communication lines to the computer;
d) providing software with the computer to operably analyze the data and predict waste water treatment process upsets and process failure events; and
e) sending a hierarchal alarm signal from the computer to the facility to provide warning of the process upsets and failure events;' said alarm signal having a first hierarchy alarm that is sent to a first party in response to an upset or event having a lower degree of severity and a second hierarchy alarm that is sent to a second party in response to an upset or event having a higher severity.

Id. 13:38-56. All in all, these claims describe a method for (1) collecting data at a water treatment plant; (2) sending the data over an internet connection to a computer; (3) monitoring and analyzing the data with an ordinary computer and software; and (4) alerting the facility of any abnormalities.

III. Standard of Review

Summary judgment must be granted “if the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a). A genuine issue of material fact exists if “the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party.” Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). In evaluating summary judgment motions, courts must view the facts and draw reasonable inferences in the light most favorable to the non-moving party. Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 378, 127 S.Ct. 1769, 167 L.Ed.2d 686 (2007). The Court may not weigh conflicting evidence or make credibility determinations, Omnicare, Inc. v. UnitedHealth Grp., Inc., 629 F.3d 697, 704 (7th Cir.2011), [768]*768and must consider only evidence that can “be presented in a'form that would be admissible in evidence.’,’ Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(c)(2). The party seeking summary judgment has the initial burden of showing that there is no genuine dispute and that she is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Carmichael v. Village of Palatine, 605 F.3d 451, 460 (7th Cir.2010); see also Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Wheeler v. Lawson,

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140 F. Supp. 3d 763, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138957, 2015 WL 5951753, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/neochloris-inc-v-emerson-process-management-lllp-ilnd-2015.