Technology Properties Ltd. v. Samsung Electronics Co.

114 F. Supp. 3d 842
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedJuly 11, 2015
DocketCase No. 3:12-cv-03877-VC, Case No. 3:12-cv-03880-VC
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 114 F. Supp. 3d 842 (Technology Properties Ltd. v. Samsung Electronics Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Technology Properties Ltd. v. Samsung Electronics Co., 114 F. Supp. 3d 842 (N.D. Cal. 2015).

Opinion

ORDER GRANTING-IN-PART MOTIONS TO STRIKE AND DENYING MOTIONS TO COMPEL

PAUL S. GREWAL, United States Magistrate Judge

In each of these two related cases, Defendants move to strike Plaintiffs’ infringement contentions1 and Plaintiffs move to compel Defendants to produce discovery arising from those contentions.2 At issue is whether Plaintiffs’ contentions meet the requirements of Patent L.R. 3-1 and whether Plaintiffs properly accuse “instru-mentalities” — Patent Local Rules-speak for products — that were never made, sold, used or imported, or released before the expiration of the patents-in-suit. Because Plaintiffs’ contentions are insufficient and improperly accuse instrumentalities that could not possibly infringe, the court GRANTS Defendants’ motions to strike by ordering Plaintiff-to supplement the contentions and DENIES Plaintiffs’ motions to compel.

I.

Rule 3 — 1(c) of the Patent Local Rules states that a patentee must provide “[a] chart identifying specifically where each limitation of each asserted claim is found within each Accused Instrumentality.” 3 A plaintiff violates this rule where it fails to “provide reasonable notice to the defendant why the plaintiff believes it has a ‘reasonable chance of proving infringement.’”4 The infringement contentions [845]*845must be sufficient to raise a “reasonable inference that all the accused products infringe.”5 A plaintiff cannot satisfy its Rule 3-1 obligations with “nothing m.ore than a conclusion based ‘on information and belief that something exists or occurs.” 6

“A patentee is not require[d]' to provide a claim chart for each accused product if the chart provided is representative of [charts for] ‘the other accused products.”7 If a patentee elects to proceed" by charting certain products as representative. of others, “Rule • 3-1 ... requires Plaintiff to articulate how the accused products share the same, or substantially the same infringing [qualities] with any other product or with the ... ‘representative’ productf ].”8

Once a plaintiff has served adequate charts, Patent L.R. 3-4(a) requires a defendant to produce “[s]ource code, specifications, schematics, flow charts, artwork, formulas, or other documentation sufficient to show the operation of any aspects or elements of an Accused Instrumentality identified by the patent claimant in its. Patent L.R. 3-l(c).chart.”9

Three years ago Plaintiffs filed these suits, alleging Defendants infringed three patents: U.S. Patent Nos. 5,809,336, 5,440,749 and 5,530,890.10 . The patents generally concern the design and operation of microprocessors that are incorporated into a variety of consumer electronics products. The patents-ih-suit issued from a common application filed August 3,1989, by inventors Charles Moore and Russell Fish, III.11 The ’336 patent has been the subject of six ex parte reexamination challenges before the United, States Patent and Trademark Office, leading to the issuance of two reexamination certificates, the first on December 15, 2009, and the second on November 23, 2010.12 The ’890 patent has been the subject of its own reexamination challenge, which led the issuance of a reexamination certificate dated March 1, 2011.13

- These cases — and others — are related to a patent case Plaintiffs tried against HTC before the undersigned involving some of the same microprocessors14 and the same infringement theory from the same expert — Vojin Oklobdzija — as Plaintiffs now proceed under against Defendants.15

[846]*846The court stayed the present cases pending the resolution of an International Trade Commission Section 337 investigation.- The investigation considered whether Defendants and others infringed one of the patents disputed here, the ’336 patent.16 In the ITC proceeding, Plaintiffs submitted an expert report from Oklobdzi-ja setting forth his opinion that all modern, advanced microprocessors (including Defendants’) operate in the same manner with respect to features’ relevant' to the ’336 patent claims at issue in this case.17 Oklobdzija reiterated this same opinion at the ITC hearing, where, as before, he was subject to cross-examination. On September 6, 2013, the Administrative Law Judge issued an initial determination that Samsung and LG’s, products did not infringe.18 On February 19, 2014, .the full Commission issued a notice affirming the ALJ’s non-infringement findings, determining there was no violation by Samsung or LG, and terminating the investigation. Plaintiffs did not appeal.

After lifting the stay, the court held a case management conference for these related cases in November 2014, in which it extended Plaintiffs’ deadline to file its Rule 3-1 infringement contentions until January 20. 2015.19 Discovery commenced, and on January 20, 2015 Plaintiffs served their infringement contentions, accusing approximately 800 Samsung and 437 LG instru-mentalities of infringing each of the asserted claims of each of the ’336, ’749 and ’890 Patents.20 Plaintiffs’ infringement contentions consist of: (1) a short cover pleading; 21 (2) a separate attachment referred to as “Exhibit A” which purports to list accused instrumentalities from different Defendants22 and (3) three claim charts, one for each patent-in-suit.23 The charts refer to microprocessors for the accused instrumentalities in large groups,. organized by manufacturer, but identify only certain specific microprocessors for only certain specific instrumentalities.24

Citing what they view as substantial deficiencies in Plaintiffs’ disclosure, Defendants refused to produce discovery or technical documents sufficient to show the operation of all of the accused instrumen-talities identified in Plaintiffs’ infringement contentions25 except for those specific mi[847]*847croprocessors disclosed.26 The parties met and conferred,27 but having, reached impasse, proceeded to file the instant motions. ,

Defendants request that the court strike Plaintiffs’ infringement contentions in their entirety for failure to comply "with Patent L.R. 3-1.28

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Bluebook (online)
114 F. Supp. 3d 842, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/technology-properties-ltd-v-samsung-electronics-co-cand-2015.