Versata Software, Inc. v. Zoho Corp.

213 F. Supp. 3d 829, 2016 WL 5793778, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136750
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. Texas
DecidedOctober 3, 2016
DocketCAUSE NO.: A-13-CA-00371-SS
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 213 F. Supp. 3d 829 (Versata Software, Inc. v. Zoho Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Versata Software, Inc. v. Zoho Corp., 213 F. Supp. 3d 829, 2016 WL 5793778, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136750 (W.D. Tex. 2016).

Opinion

ORDER

SAM SPARKS, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

BE IT REMEMBERED on the 28th day of September 2016, the Court held a hearing in the above-styled cause, and the parties appeared by and through counsel. Before the Court are Defendant Zoho Corporation (Zoho)’s Motion for Summary Judgment [#157], Plaintiffs Versata Software, Inc. and Versata Development Group, Inc. (collectively, Versata)’s Response [#188] in opposition, Zoho’s Reply [#185] in support, Versata’s Surreply [#192] in opposition, Zoho’s Sursurreply [#195] in support, and Zoho’s Notice of Supplemental Authority [#199]. Having reviewed the documents, the arguments of the parties at the hearing, the governing law, and the file as a whole, the Court now enters the following opinion and orders.

Background

I. Patent-in-suit

This case involves claims for infringement of United States Patent Number 7,092,740 (the ’740 Patent), which was issued in 2006 and is titled “High Density Information Presentation Using Space-Constrained Display Device.”1 The ’740 Patent describes a method for presenting information on a “space-constrained display of a portable device.” The goal of the ’740 Patent’s innovation is to allow a relatively large amount of data about particular external states to be easily monitored on mobile devices and for the information to be digested by the user at a glance. The patent explains that as use of mobile phones and other portable information devices have become more pervasive,

so too have the demands for rich information content. While the size, resolu[832]*832tion and flexibility of displays employed by such devices have improved dramatically, space-constraints are inevitable. Unfortunately, space-constraints limit the richness of information content available to a user.... The display paradigms [previously] employed have typically been based on text-based links and sparse graphics that attempt to reproduce on the phone, in dramatically scaled down form, the presentation of a typical web page. Unfortunately, the size of such display screens (often as small as 4 lines of text with 15 character width) are wholly inadequate for such displays.

Compl. [#1-3] Ex. 3 (’740 Patent) at col. 1 ll.15-31.

The ’740 Patent proposes a solution to this problem by allowing users to select only the information they wish to see on their device, and permitting the users to represent that information using a compact graphical representation. For example, a user might want to remotely monitor the central processing unit (CPU) load on a critical server at any given time. The ’740 Patent’s technology would allow the user to easily view and understand different indications of that state. Different colors might be used as indications of the monitored state: green if load is less than 50%, yellow if load is between 50% and 75%, and red if load exceeds 75%. The ’740 Patent also allows a user to set up the system so information related to the monitored server is sent to one or more mobile devices and displayed compactly using the user-configured indicators in the display. Some of the claims of the ’740 Patent cover displays combining graphical and textual representations while other claims cover displaying the data in two-dimensional arrays. All of the claims incorporate the term “space-constrained display of a portable device.”

II. Procedural History

The dispute between the parties arose when Zoho began making and selling software known as ManageEngine Applications Manager, ManageEngine Applications Manager for iPhone, and ManageEngine OpManager, which Versata, the assignee of the ’740 Patent, claims infringes its patent. On May 28, 2014, the Court, through Special Master Karl Bayer, held a Markman hearing in this case. On July 31, 2014, the Court held a supplemental Markman hearing on the disputed indefiniteness of two claim terms in light of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Nautilus v. Biosig Instruments Inc., — U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 2120, 189 L.Ed.2d 37 (2014). The Special Master issued his Report and Recommendation on claim construction on September 26, 2014. R. & R. [#81]. On January 15, 2015, this Court entered its claim construction order accepting the Special Master’s recommended constructions, with two modifications relating to the ’740 Patent. Order of Jan. 15, 2015 [#88].

Zoho filed a motion for summary judgment on July 21, 2015, arguing the ’740 Patent is invalid because it claims an abstract idea in violation of Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int’l, — U.S.-, 134 S.Ct. 2347, 2354, 189 L.Ed.2d 296 (2014). See First Mot. Summ. J. [#93] at 7. The Court, in denying Zoho’s motion for summary judgment, concluded the ’740 Patent did not embody an impermissibly abstract idea and therefore did not address whether the claims at issue contain an inventive concept sufficient to transform the allegedly abstract idea into patent-eligible subject matter. Order of Oct. 26, 2015 [#101].

On August 12, 2016, Zoho filed a second motion for summary judgment, this time arguing the asserted claims of the ’740 Patent are invalid for indefinite[833]*833ness because they fail to “particularly point[ ] out and distinctly claim[ ] the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.” See Second Mot. Summ. J. [#157] at 5 (quoting 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶2). Specifically, Zoho contends the term “space-constrained display” is indefinite. In the alternative, Zoho argues either it did not infringe the ’740 Patent or the patent is invalid for obviousness. The parties fully briefed the motion, and it is now ripe for the Court’s consideration.

Analysis

I. Legal Standard

Summary judgment shall be rendered when the pleadings, the discovery and disclosure materials on file, and any affidavits show that there is no genuine dispute as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(a); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323-25, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986); Washburn, v. Harvey, 504 F.3d 505, 508 (5th Cir. 2007). A dispute regarding a material fact is “genuine” if the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict in favor of the nonmoving party. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). When ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the court is required to view all inferences drawn from the factual record in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Matsushita Elec. Indus. Co. v. Zenith Radio, 475 U.S. 574, 587, 106 S.Ct. 1348, 89 L.Ed.2d 538 (1986); Washburn, 504 F.3d at 508. Further, a court “may not make credibility determinations or weigh the evidence” in ruling on a motion for summary judgment. Reeves v. Sanderson Plumbing Prods., Inc.,

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213 F. Supp. 3d 829, 2016 WL 5793778, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 136750, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/versata-software-inc-v-zoho-corp-txwd-2016.