Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Apple Inc.

District Court, N.D. California·Decided February 28, 2020·No. 5:19-cv-01929·Unknown

Opinion

UNILOC 2017 LLC, Case No. 19-cv-01929-EJD (VKD)

Plaintiff, ODER GRANTING APPLE’S MOTION v. TO STRIKE INFRINGEMENT CONTENTIONS WITH LEAVE TO Defendant. Re: Dkt. No. 73

Plaintiff Uniloc 2017 LLC (“Uniloc”) sues defendant Apple Inc. (“Apple”) for infringement of U.S. Patent No. 7,020,252 (“the ’252 Patent”). Apple moves to strike Uniloc’s infringement contentions. Dkt. No. 73. The presiding judge referred the motion to the undersigned magistrate judge. Dkt. No. 68 at 1–2. The Court heard oral argument on the motion on February 25, 2020. Dkt. No. 79. Having considered the parties’ briefs and arguments made at the hearing, the Court grants Apple’s motion to strike but grants Uniloc leave to amend. Uniloc contends that Apple infringes claims 1, 2, and 4 of the ’252 patent. Dkt. No. 73-4 at 2. It served infringement contentions on October 31, 2019 asserting that numerous Apple devices capable of running software for Apple’s iMessage feature infringe the asserted claims as follows: Apple infringes the ’252 Patent by making, using, selling, offering to sell and/or importing mobile electronic devices into which Apple has installed software, or devices that are capable of downloading software that enable the devices to use Apple’s iMessages feature to record and retrieve audio messages. The iMessages feature was that include the iMessages software infringe the ’252 Patent (together, “Accused Products”). . . . Accused Products include the following devices: (1) iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max cellphones; (2) iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad Air 2, iPad 2, iPad 3, iPad 4, iPad mini, iPad mini 2, and iPad mini 3 tablets; (3) MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, iMac Pro, Mac Pro, and Mac mini, and (4) iPod touch. In addition, Apple states the Apple Watch has iMessages functionality. See, e.g., https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208489. Accused Products, therefore, also include: Apple Watch Series 2, Apple Watch Series 3, Apple Watch Series 4, and Apple Watch Series 5. Id. at 1–2. Uniloc says that its infringement contentions are “based on information currently available to [it]” and that it intends to update those contentions “during the course of discovery as information about Apple’s products comes to light, in response to the Court’s claim construction, or following any source code inspection.” Id. at 2. On December 13, 2019, Apple sent a 12-page letter to Uniloc outlining what Apple believed were deficiencies in Uniloc’s infringement contentions. Dkt. No. 73-2. The letter requested that Uniloc respond to or confer with Apple about these deficiencies by December 18, 2019. Id. at 12. Uniloc did not provide any substantive response to Apple’s December 13 letter. Apple moves to strike Uniloc’s infringement contentions on several grounds. Dkt. No. 73. First, Apple says that Uniloc improperly relies on a single claim chart for a single unidentified Apple product as representative of its contentions for all accused products. Second, Apple says that Uniloc’s claim chart fails to comply with the requirements of Patent Local Rule 3-1(c). Finally, Apple says that Uniloc does not disclose the bases for its contentions of indirect infringement and infringement under the doctrine of equivalents. Patent Local Rule 3-1 requires, among other things: [A] party claiming patent infringement shall serve on all parties . . . the “Disclosure of Asserted Claims and Infringement Contentions” [which] shall contain the following information:

(a) Each claim of each patent in suit that is allegedly asserted; (b) Separately for each asserted claim, each accused apparatus, product, device, process, method, act, or other instrumentality (“Accused Instrumentality”) of each opposing party of which the party is aware. This identification shall be as specific as possible. Each product, device, and apparatus shall be identified by name or model number, if known. Each method or process shall be identified by name, if known, or by any product, device, or apparatus which, when used, allegedly results in the practice of the claimed method or process;

(c) A chart identifying specifically where and how each limitation of each asserted claim is found within each Accused Instrumentality, including for each limitation that such party contends is governed by 35 U.S.C. § 112(6), the identity of the structure(s), act(s), or material(s) in the Accused Instrumentality that performs the claimed function[;]

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Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Apple Inc., (N.D. Cal. 2020).

Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Apple Inc. (Uniloc 2017 LLC v. Apple Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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