Mobilemedia Ideas, LLC v. Apple Inc.

• Decision Date: 05 September 2013
• Docket Number: Civ. No. 10–258–SLR–MPT
• Citation: 966 F.Supp.2d 439
• Parties: MobileMedia Ideas, LLC, Plaintiff, v. Apple Inc., Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Delaware

966 F.Supp.2d 439

MobileMedia Ideas, LLC, Plaintiff,

v.Apple Inc., Defendant.

Civ. No. 10–258–SLR–MPT

United States District Court, D. Delaware.

September 5, 2013

Jack B. Blumenfeld, Esquire, Rodger D. Smith II, Esquire, and Jeremy A. Tigan, Esquire of Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP, Wilmington, Delaware. Counsel for Plaintiff. Of Counsel: Steven M. Bauer, Esquire, Justin J. Daniels, Esquire, Safraz W. Ishmael, Esquire, Kenneth Rubenstein, Esquire, Anthony C. Coles, Esquire, and Alan Federbush, Esquire of Proskauer Rose LLP.

Richard K. Herrmann, Esquire, and Mary B. Matterer, Esquire of Morris James LLP, Wilmington, Delaware. Counsel for Defendant. Of Counsel: George A. Riley, Esquire, and Luann L. Simmons, Esquire of O'Melveny & Myers LLP.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

SUE L. ROBINSON, District Judge

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff MobileMedia Ideas, LLC (“MobileMedia”) brought this patent infringement action against Apple Inc. (“Apple”), alleging in its amended complaint that various Apple products infringe sixteen patents.¹ In a memorandum opinion and order dated November 8, 2012, the court issued its claim construction and resolved several summary judgment motions. (D.I. 461; D.I. 462) A seven-day jury trial was held on December 3–11, 2012. Trial was limited to claims 5, 6, and 10 of the '075 patent, claims 23 and 24 of the '068 patent, and claim 73 of the '078 patent. Except for finding no induced infringement, the jury returned a verdict in MobileMedia's favor, finding direct infringement and validity of the '075, '068, and '078 patents. (D.I. 507) Before the court is Apple's renewed Rule 50 motion for judgment as a matter of law (“JMOL”) that the asserted claims of the '075, '068, and '078 patents are invalid and not infringed or, in the alternative, for a new trial under Rule 59. (D.I. 517) The court has jurisdiction over these matters pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1338.

II. BACKGROUNDA. Procedural History

MobileMedia filed this patent infringement action on March 31, 2010 against Apple and subsequently amended its complaint to assert sixteen patents in total. (D.I. 1; D.I. 8) Apple answered and asserted affirmative defenses of, inter alia, non-infringement, invalidity, unenforceability, failure to state a claim, “waiver, laches and/or estoppel,” prosecution history estoppel, and lack of standing. (D.I. 10 at ¶¶ 114–23) Apple also asserted counterclaims for declaratory judgment of non-infringement. ( Id. at ¶¶ 124–208)

On April 4, 2012, the parties stipulated to dismiss the claims and counterclaims related to the '390 patent and the '647 patent. (D.I. 263) On April 25, 2012, MobileMedia deferred four more patents (the '080, '477, '012, and '239 patents) for a later phase, leaving ten patents at issue for summary judgment. On summary judgment, the court found no direct infringement and no induced infringement of claims 1, 7, and 8 of the '068 patent, as well as of all asserted claims of the '231 and '394 patents. (D.I. 461; D.I. 462) In addition, the court found invalidity of all asserted claims of the '828 and '942 patents, no invalidity of the asserted claims of the '068 patent based on the asserted prior art Orbitor Video, and no anticipation of the asserted claims of the '075, '394, and '155 patents based on the asserted prior art. ² (D.I. 461; D.I. 462) On November 15, 2012, the court excluded from trial claim 1, as amended during reexamination, as well as claims 2 and 3, of the '078 patent. (D.I. 469) MobileMedia then chose claims of three remaining patents to assert at trial (the “asserted claims”): claims 5, 6, and 10 of the '075 patent, claims 23 and 24 of the '068 patent, and claim 73 of the '078 patent. (D.I. 474; D.I. 497 at 18:11–21:10) The products accused of infringing the asserted claims were Apple's iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4 products (collectively, the “iPhone”).

Following a seven-day trial, the jury returned a verdict on December 13, 2012 of direct infringement of all asserted claims of the '075, '068, and '078 patents; validity of all asserted claims of the '075, '068, and '078 patents; and no induced infringement of any asserted claims of the '075, '068, and '078 patents. (D.I. 506) The court entered judgment accordingly on December 17, 2012. (D.I. 513) On January 14, 2013, Apple renewed its motion for JMOL pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50(b) and also moved for a new trial. (D.I. 517)

B. Technology

The '075, '068, and '078 patents relate to a variety of technologies in information processing, computing, and mobile phones. The '075 and '068 patents relate to technology for rejecting, silencing, and merging second incoming calls on mobile telephones already connected to a first call, and the '078 patent relates to cameras on mobile devices. The court discusses each patent in more detail infra.

III. STANDARDA. Renewed Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law

To prevail on a renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law following a jury trial, the moving party “ ‘must show that the jury's findings, presumed or express, are not supported by substantial evidence or, if they were, that the legal conclusions implied [by] the jury's verdict cannot in law be supported by those findings.’ ” Pannu v. lolab Corp., 155 F.3d 1344, 1348 (Fed.Cir.1998) (quoting Perkin–Elmer Corp. v.Computervision Corp., 732 F.2d 888, 893 (Fed.Cir.1984)). “ ‘Substantial’ evidence is such relevant evidence from the record taken as a whole as might be acceptable by a reasonable mind as adequate to support the finding under review.” Perkin–Elmer Corp., 732 F.2d at 893. In assessing the sufficiency of the evidence, the court must give the non-moving party, “as [the] verdict winner, the benefit of all logical inferences that could be drawn from the evidence presented, resolve all conflicts in the evidence in his favor, and in general, view the record in the light most favorable to him.” Williamson v. Consol. Rail Corp., 926 F.2d 1344, 1348 (3d Cir.1991); Perkin–Elmer Corp., 732 F.2d at 893. The court may not determine the credibility of the witnesses nor “substitute its choice for that of the jury between conflicting elements of the evidence.” Perkin–Elmer Corp., 732 F.2d at 893. In sum, the court must determine whether the evidence reasonably supports the jury's verdict. SeeDawn Equip. Co. v. Kentucky Farms Inc., 140 F.3d 1009, 1014 (Fed.Cir.1998).

B. Motion for a New Trial

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(a) provides, in pertinent part:

A new trial may be granted to all or any of the parties and on all or part of the issues in an action in which there has been a trial by jury, for any of the reasons for which new trials have heretofore been granted in actions at law in the courts of the United States.

Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(a). The decision to grant or deny a new trial is within the sound discretion of the trial court and, unlike the standard for determining judgment as a matter of law, the court need not view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict winner. SeeAllied Chem. Corp. v. Daiflon, Inc., 449 U.S. 33, 36, 101 S.Ct. 188, 66 L.Ed.2d 193 (1980); OlefinsTrading, Inc. v. Han Yang Chem. Corp., 9 F.3d 282 (1993); LifeScan Inc. v. Home Diagnostics, Inc., 103 F.Supp.2d 345, 350 (D.Del.2000) (citations omitted); see also9A Wright & Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2531 (2d ed. 1994) (“On a motion for new trial the court may consider the credibility of witnesses and the weight of the evidence.”). Among the most common reasons for granting a new trial are: (1) the jury's verdict is against the clear weight of the evidence, and a new trial must be granted to prevent a miscarriage of justice; (2) newly-discovered evidence exists that would likely alter the outcome of the trial; (3) improper conduct by an attorney or the court unfairly influenced the verdict; or (4) the jury's verdict was facially inconsistent. SeeZarow–Smith v. N.J. Transit Rail Operations, 953 F.Supp. 581, 584–85 (D.N.J.1997) (citations omitted). The court must proceed cautiously, mindful that it should not simply substitute its own judgment of the facts and the credibility of the witnesses for those of the jury. Rather, the court should grant a new trial on the basis that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence only where a miscarriage of justice would result if the verdict were to stand. SeeWilliamson, 926 F.2d at 1352; EEOC v. Del. Dep't of Health & Soc. Servs., 865 F.2d 1408, 1413 (3d Cir.1989).

IV. DISCUSSIONA. Apple's Renewed JMOL Motion

Apple advances several arguments in support of its renewed motion for JMOL. Regarding invalidity, Apple asserts that it “presented clear and convincing evidence identifying every limitation of the asserted claims in the prior art and establishing why one of ordinary skill would have combined these invalidity references.” (D.I. 518 at 1) It asserts that MobileMedia presented no evidence of secondary indicia of nonobviousness and relied on conclusory expert testimony that conflicted with legal standards and the evidence. ( Id.) Regarding non-infringement, Apple avers that MobileMedia presented no evidence that Apple directly infringes the '075 or '068 patent, and that MobileMedia's only infringement theory for the '078 patent was neither disclosed in discovery nor supported by the evidence. ( Id.)

1. Standards

a. Infringement

A patent is infringed when a person “without authority makes, uses or sells any patented invention, within the United States ... during the term of the patent.” 35 U.S.C. § 271(a). To prove direct infringement, the patentee must establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, that one or more claims of the patent read on the accused device literally or under the doctrine of equivalents. SeeAdvanced Cardiovascular Sys., Inc. v. Scimed Life Sys., Inc., 261 F.3d 1329, 1336 (Fed.Cir.2001). A two-step analysis is employed in making an infringement determination. SeeMarkman v. Westview Instruments, Inc., 52 F.3d 967, 976 (Fed.Cir.1995). First, the court...