Virginia Innovation Sciences, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co.

983 F. Supp. 2d 700, 92 Fed. R. Serv. 1228, 2013 WL 6053846, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 163738
District Court, E.D. Virginia·Decided November 15, 2013·No. Case No. 2:12cv548·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

MARK S. DAVIS, District Judge.

This matter is currently before the Court on motions filed by Samsung Elec[702]*702tronics Co., Ltd., Samsung Electronics America, Inc., and Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC (collectively “Samsung” or “Defendants”). In the first motion, Defendants move for an order: “(1) dismissing Count VIII, for Willful Infringement, in the First Amended Complaint (the ‘FAC’), pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6) and (2) striking the allegations and prayer for relief relating to Count VIII, pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(f).” ECF No. 124. The second motion before the Court is Defendant’s motion requesting judicial notice of a Notice of Allowability upon which Samsung wishes to rely in support of its motion to dismiss. ECF No. 126. The motions have been fully briefed and are therefore ripe for decision.

After examination of the briefs and the record, the Court has determined that a hearing on the instant motions is unnecessary, as the facts and legal arguments are adequately presented, and the decisional process would not be aided significantly by oral argument. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 78(b); E.D. Va. Loe. Civ. R. 7(J). For the reasons that follow, the Court GRANTS Defendants’ Request for Judicial Notice in Support of Samsung’s Motion to Dismiss Claim for Willful Infringement; DENIES, in part, and GRANTS, in part, Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Claim for Willful Infringement in First Amended Complaint; and DENIES Defendants’ Motion to Strike Allegations and Prayer for Relief Regarding Same.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In the instant patent infringement action, plaintiff Virginia Innovation Sciences, Inc. (hereinafter “Plaintiff’ or “VIS”) alleges that Defendants have directly, indirectly, and willfully infringed the patents-in-suit by making, using, offering for sale, selling, and/or importing a wide range of accused products, including smartphones, tablets, Blue-ray players, and hubs. Samsung denies VIS’s claims of infringement and asserts several affirmative defenses, including invalidity of all patents-in-suit, prosecution history estoppel and other equitable doctrines. Additionally, Samsung asserts counterclaims seeking declarations of non-infringement and invalidity for each of the patents-in-suit.

At issue in this case are the following six patents: U.S. Patent No. 7,899,492 (“the 492 patent”), U.S. Patent No. 8,050,711 (“the '711 patent”), U.S. Patent No. 8,145,-268 (“the '268 patent”), U.S. Patent No. 8,224,381 (“the '381 patent”), U.S. Patent No. 7,957,733 (“the '733 patent”), and U.S. Patent No. 8,135,398 (“the '398 patent”). All of the patents-in-suit claim priority to U.S. Application No. 11/165,341, now the '492 patent, which itself claimed priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/588,-359, filed on July 16, 2004. The '711, '268, and '381 patents are continuations of the '492 patent and all four share a substantively identical specification (“the '492 specification”). The '733 and '398 patents are continuations-in-part of the '492 patent. These two patents share a substantively identical specification, which includes all of the '492 specification, along with additional material (“the '733 specification”). Each of the patents-in-suit describes inventions intended to resolve the inconvenience and impracticality of viewing multimedia content on the small screens of mobile terminals.

The Court held its Markman hearing in this matter on June 11, 2013 and issued its Markman opinion on September 25, 2013, 976 F.Supp.2d 794, 2013 WL 5410013 (E.D.Va.2013). Since this hearing, there have been numerous filings in this matter and several motions remain pending before the Court, in various stages of briefing. [703]*703By Order of October 25, 2013, the Court joined for trial this matter and Virginia Innovation Sciences, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., et al., Case No. 2:13ev322. ECF No. 353. The trial of the two matters is now set for April 21, 2014. After reciting the applicable standards of review, the Court first addresses Defendants’ Motion and Memorandum in Support of Request for Judicial Notice in Support of Samsung’s Motion to Dismiss Claim for Willful Infringement. ECF No. 126. The Court then addresses the Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Claim for Willful Infringement in First Amended Complaint, and to Strike Allegations and Prayer for Relief Regarding Same. ECF No. 124.

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

A. F.R.E. 201(b)(2) Request for Judicial Notice

Federal Rule of Evidence 201 “governs judicial notice of ... adjudicative fact[s].” Fed.R.Evid. 201(a). The rule permits the court to “judicially notice a fact that is not subject to reasonable dispute because it: (1) is generally known within the trial court’s territorial jurisdiction; or (2) can be accurately and readily determined from sources whose accuracy cannot be reasonably questioned.” Fed.R.Evid. 201(b). The Court is permitted to take judicial notice “on its own.” Fed.R.Evid. 201(c)(1). However, the Court “must take judicial notice if a party requests it and the court is supplied with the necessary information.” Fed.R.Evid. 201(c)(2).

B. Rule 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss

A complaint should be dismissed under Rule 12(b)(6) where it appears that the facts alleged fail to state a “plausible” claim for relief. Ashcroft v. Iqbal 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). “Factual allegations must be enough to raise a right to relief above the speculative level ... on the assumption that all the allegations in the complaint are true (even if doubtful in fact).” Twombly, 550 U.S. at 555, 127 S.Ct. 1955. “And, of course, a well-pleaded complaint may proceed even if it strikes a savvy judge that actual proof of those facts is improbable, and ‘that a recovery is very remote and unlikely.’ ” Id. at 556, 127 S.Ct. 1955. The Fourth Circuit recently explained the standard as follows: “To survive a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, a complaint must establish ‘facial plausibility’ by pleading ‘factual content that allows the court to draw the reasonable inference that the defendant is liable for the misconduct alleged.’ ” Clatterbuck v. City of Charlottesville, 708 F.3d 549, 554 (4th Cir.2013) (quoting

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Virginia Innovation Sciences, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., 983 F. Supp. 2d 700, 92 Fed. R. Serv. 1228, 2013 WL 6053846, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 163738 (E.D. Va. 2013).

983 F. Supp. 2d 700 (Virginia Innovation Sciences, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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