T.M. Patents, L.P. v. Cisco Systems, Inc.

982 F. Supp. 2d 93, 2013 WL 6019290, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 162169
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedNovember 14, 2013
DocketCivil Action No. 12-11418-WGY
StatusPublished

This text of 982 F. Supp. 2d 93 (T.M. Patents, L.P. v. Cisco Systems, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
T.M. Patents, L.P. v. Cisco Systems, Inc., 982 F. Supp. 2d 93, 2013 WL 6019290, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 162169 (D. Mass. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

YOUNG, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

In the present case, plaintiffs T.M. Patents, L.P. and T.M. Creditors LLC (collectively, “T.M. Patents”) charge the defendant, Cisco Systems, Inc. (“Cisco”), with infringement of U.S. Patent No. 5,212,773 (“the '773 Patent”), titled “Wormhole Communications Arrangement for Massively Parallel Processor.” This memoran[95]*95dum addresses three motions brought by the parties: (1) a motion for summary judgment of non-infringement brought by Cisco, (2) a motion for partial summary judgment brought by Cisco to limit damages, and (3) a cross-motion for partial summary judgment brought by T.M. Patents.

A. Procedural Posture

T.M. Patents, the owner of the '773 Patent, commenced this litigation against Cisco in August 2012. See Compl. & Jury Demand, ECF No. 1. This Court held a Markman hearing on June 7, 2013, during which it construed certain claims in a decision orally delivered from the bench. See Tr. Markman Hr’g 27:9-28:16, ECF No. 67 (“Markman Tr.”). The Court entered an order memorializing the constructions on June 18, 2013. Order (“Markman Order”), ECF No. 69.

Shortly thereafter, Cisco filed its first motion for summary judgment, requesting partial summary judgment to limit the scope of damages based on T.M. Patents’ alleged failure to comply with federal statutory marking requirements and provide Cisco with actual notice of infringement before the expiration of the patent-in-suit. Cisco Sys. Inc.’s Notice Mot. & Mot. Summ. J., ECF No. 73; Def. Cisco Sys. Inc.’s Mot. Partial Summ. J. Limit Damages, ECF No. 74. T.M. Patents responded by cross-moving for partial summary judgment on the marking issue, asking the Court to rule that T.M. Patents did not violate its obligation to mark devices practicing the '773 Patent. Pis. T.M. Patents, L.P. & T.M. Creditors LLC’s Notice Cross-Mot. Partial Summ. J. Marking Issue, ECF No. 109; Pis. T.M. Patents, L.P. & T.M. Creditors LLC’s Cross-Mot. Summ. J. Marking Issue, ECF No. 112. Overlapping with this activity, Cisco moved for summary judgment of non-infringement. Cisco Sys. Inc.’s Notice Mot. & Mot. Summ. J. Non-Infringement, ECF No. 106; Def. Cisco Sys. Ine.’s Mot. Summ. J. Non-Infringement (“Def.’s Non-Infringement Mem.”), ECF No. 107. The Court heard oral arguments on all three motions on October 10, 2013, and took the case under advisement. Elec. Clerk’s Notes, ECF No. 136; see Tr. Mot. Hr’g, ECF No. 140. The parties subsequently entered alternative dispute resolution proceedings held before Magistrate Judge Bowler, but her report was that further settlement efforts would be unlikely to be productive. See Report Re: Reference for Alternative Dispute Resolution, ECF No. 160.

B. Undisputed Facts

1. U.S. Patent No. 5,212,773

The patent in suit, “Wormhole Communications Arrangement for Massively Parallel Processor,” teaches a system for transmitting computer messages across a processor network using wormhole routing, also referred to as cut-through routing or cut-through switching. Pis.’ T.M. Patents, L.P. & T.M. Creditors LLC’s Opening Claim Construction Br. U.S. Patent Nos. 5,212,773 (“Pis.’ Opening Markman Br.”) 2, ECF No. 46.1

Wormhole routing is a method of transmitting messages quickly from one network device to another. When a message travels across a network, it passes through network nodes, computer devices like message routers or servers, which read the message’s destination address and forward the message on to the next appropriate [96]*96way station in the network. See T.M. Patents, L.P. v. International Bus. Mach. Corp., 72 F.Supp.2d 370, 392 (S.D.N.Y. 1999) {“IBM Markman ”). Destination information is contained in a message’s head and is the first part of a message to arrive at any network node. See Pis.’ Opening Markman Br. 2. When a message router uses wormhole routing, it decodes the head of a message and begins forwarding before it has received the rest of the message. Id. This represents an improvement over prior art, a store-and-forward system in which a message would not be forwarded until it had been received in its entirety. IBM Markman, 72 F.Supp.2d at 392-93.

At present, only infringement of Claims 1 and 9 of the '773 patent are in dispute. See Pis. T.M. Patents, L.P. & T.M. Creditors LLC’s Am. Supplemental Infringement Disclosures, App’x. A, Pis.’ Supplemental Infringement Disclosures — U.S. Patent No. 5,212,773 (“Am. Supplemental Infringement Disclosures”), ECF No. 84-1; Def.’s Non-Infringement Mem. 3. Claim 1 teaches “[a] computer system comprising a plurality of processing elements and a messaging router” that uses a particular process to achieve wormhole routing. Am. Supplemental Infringement Disclosures at 1. Claim 9 teaches “[a] message router for connection to a plurality of processing elements to form a computer system” which uses the same wormhole routing process. Id. at 8.

2. The Accused Devices

T.M. Patents identifies two Cisco products that allegedly infringe the '773 patent: the Nexus 5000 Series switch2 (“Nexus 5000”) and the UCS 6100 Series Fabric Interconnect (“UCS 6100”). See Pis.’ Mem. Law. Opp’n Def. Cisco Sys. Inc.’s Mot. Summ. J. (“Pis.’ Opp’n”) 2, ECF No. 126. The Nexus 5000 is a message router that transmits messages between processing elements. See Decl. Daniel M. For-man Supp. Cisco Sys. Inc.’s Mot. Strike Portions Expert Report Bradley C. Kuszmaul, Ex. E, Expert Report Bradley C. Kuszmaul (“Pis.’ Expert Report”) 25, ECF No. 102-5. The UCS 6100 is a more sophisticated message router that at least sometimes is sold as part of a Cisco Unified Computing System. See Pis.’ Opp’n, Ex. B., E-mail from Lana Shiferman to Stephen J. Driscoll & Daniel M. Forman, ECF No. 126-2. The Unified Computing System is a package of Cisco products, including processing elements, designed to operate seamlessly and at a high level of performance when connected in a single network. See Servers — Unified Computing, http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ psl0265/index.html (last visited Nov. 13, 2013). The UCS 6100 is “the management and communication backbone” for the Unified Computing System. See Cisco UCS 6100 Series Fabric Interconnects, http:// www.cisco.com/en/US/products/psl0276/ index.html (last visited Nov. 13, 2013). With one exception, T.M. Patents’ infringement allegations do not distinguish between the Nexus 5000 and UCS 6100, because both products use identical technology internally to route messages from their input circuits to their output circuits. See “Def.’s Non-Infringement Mem.” 10, ECF No. 107.; Pis.’ Expert Report 25. Thus, unless the products’ distinguishing features are relevant to the issue being decided, the Court will refer to both products as one accused device.

[97]*97When a message is sent from a processing element to the accused device, the message arrives at the device’s input circuit, referred to by Cisco as the Gatos ASIC. Def.’s Non-Infringement Mem. 10. The head of the arriving message contains a destination MAC address designating the message’s final intended destination. See id.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
982 F. Supp. 2d 93, 2013 WL 6019290, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 162169, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tm-patents-lp-v-cisco-systems-inc-mad-2013.