Mobile Telecomms. Techs., LLC v. LG Elecs. Mobilecomm United States, Inc., CASE NO. 2:13-CV-947-JRG-RSP

• Decision Date: 12 May 2015
• Docket Number: CASE NO. 2:13-CV-947-JRG-RSP
• Parties: MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, v. LG ELECTRONICS MOBILECOMM USA, INC.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Texas

MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC,
v.
LG ELECTRONICS MOBILECOMM USA, INC.

CASE NO. 2:13-CV-947-JRG-RSP

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS MARSHALL DIVISION

May 12, 2015

CLAIM CONSTRUCTION MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

On March 17, 2015, the Court held a hearing to determine the proper construction of the disputed claim terms in United States Patents No. 5,754,946, 5,809,428, and 5,894,506. After considering the arguments made by the parties at the hearing and in the parties' claim construction briefing (Dkt. Nos. 55, 57 & 58),¹ the Court issues this Claim Construction Memorandum and Order.

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Table of Contents

I. BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................................... 4

II. LEGAL PRINCIPLES ........................................................................................................... 7

III. THE PARTIES' STIPULATED TERMS ......................................................................... 10

IV. DISPUTED TERMS IN U.S. PATENT NO. 5,754,946 .................................................... 11

A. "a portion of the displayed message," "a portion of a displayed message," and "a portion of the message" ...................................................................................................... 11

B. "retransmission" .................................................................................................................. 16

C. "only upon actuation of the switch" .................................................................................... 20

D. "communications network of claim 4" ............................................................................... 21

E. "means for transmitting, only upon actuation of the switch, a signal to the communications network requesting retransmission of said specified portion of said message" ............................................................................................................................. 25

F. "means for including an error correcting code in the radio frequency signals containing the message data" ................................................................................................................ 28

G. "means for extracting a corrected message from the radio frequency signal" ................... 30

H. "means for receiving said specified portion retransmitted from the communications network and for displaying the received portion on the display" ....................................... 32

I. "means for retransmitting radio frequency signals containing the portion of the message to the mobile unit" .............................................................................................................. 35

J. "means for transmitting a signal to a sender of the message indicating that the user has read the message" ............................................................................................................... 36

V. DISPUTED TERMS IN U.S. PATENT NO. 5,894,506 ..................................................... 36

A. "canned message" ............................................................................................................... 36

B. "selecting an appropriate canned message from the second file for transmission to the second terminal" ................................................................................................................. 38

C. "means for retrieving the file of canned messages and the file of canned multiple response options from the memory" and "means for retrieving the file of canned messages and message codes from the memory" ............................................................... 42

D. "means for selecting one of the canned messages for communication to a designated other message terminal and for selecting multiple response options appropriate for the selected canned message," "means for selecting one of the canned messages and at least one of the multiple response options appropriate for the selected canned message for communication to a designated other message terminal," and "means for adding parameters to the selected canned message for inclusion with the assigned message code transmitted over the communications link" ............................................................... 46

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VI. DISPUTED TERMS IN U.S. PATENT NO. 5,809,428 .................................................... 47

A. "probe message" ................................................................................................................. 47

B. "data message" .................................................................................................................... 50

VII. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................. 51

APPENDIX A .............................................................................................................................. 52

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I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff brings suit alleging infringement of United States Patents No. 5,754,946 ("the '946 Patent"), 5,809,428 ("the '428 Patent"), and 5,894,506 ("the '506 Patent") (collectively, the "patents-in-suit"). In general, the patents-in-suit relate to wireless messaging systems.

The '946 Patent is titled "Nationwide Communication System." The '946 Patent issued on May 19, 1998, and bears a filing date of September 21, 1993. The Abstract of the '946 Patent states:

A two-way communication system for communication between a system network and a mobile unit. The system network includes a plurality of base transmitters and base receivers included in the network. The base transmitters are divided into zonal assignments and broadcast in simulcast using multi-carrier modulation techniques. The system network controls the base transmitters to broadcast in simulcast during both systemwide and zonal time intervals. The system network dynamically alters zone boundaries to maximize information throughput. The system also uses a mobile unit which receives messages from the network and transmits messages to the network. The mobile unit includes a switch that allows a user to request the network to retransmit a received message that contains errors.

The '428 Patent is titled "Method and Device for Processing Undelivered Data Messages in a Two-Way Wireless Communications System." The '428 Patent issued on September 15, 1998, and bears a filing date of July 25, 1996. The '428 Patent incorporates by reference the '946 Patent. '428 Patent at 1:36-39. In general, the '428 Patent relates to acknowledging receipt of data messages and probe messages. The Abstract of the '428 Patent states:

A network operations center transmits a data message to a wireless mobile unit and waits for a data acknowledgment message. If no acknowledgment is received within a specified time, the network operations center sends a probe message to attempt to locate the mobile unit and waits for a probe acknowledgment message. If still no acknowledgment, the network operations center marks the data message as undelivered and stores it for future delivery. If a mobile unit receives a probe message while its transmitter is powered off, it displays an indication to the subscriber that there is a message waiting to be delivered. The subscriber can then dial into the network operations center to retrieve the message. Or, when the transmitter of the mobile unit is powered back on, the mobile unit sends a registration message to the network operations center; and upon receiving the

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registration message, the network operations center automatically re-transmits the undelivered data message to the mobile unit.

The '506 Patent is titled "Method and Apparatus for Generating and Communicating Messages Between Subscribers to an Electronic Messaging Network." The '506 Patent issued on April 13, 1999, and bears a filing date of September 5, 1996. In general, the '506 Patent relates to conveying so-called "canned" messages. The Abstract of the '506 Patent states:

An electronic messaging network comprises a network operation center and plural message terminals, all including memories for storing corresponding files of canned messages and associated message codes. To send a canned message, a calling party selects a canned message stored at one message terminal and transmits the assigned message code to a receiving party at another message terminal via the network operation center. The receiving terminal retrieves the selected canned message from its memory using the received message code for display to the receiving party. Files of canned responses and associated response codes may also be stored in the memories at the terminals and network operation center to allow the exchange of selected canned response options in conjunction with canned messages to be in response code form.

The Court previously addressed the patents-in-suit in Mobile Telecommunications Technologies, LLC v. Sprint Nextel Corp., et al., No. 2:12-CV-832, Dkt. No. 162 (E.D. Tex. May 2, 2014) ("Sprint," sometimes referred to by the parties as the "Apple Markman Order") (attached to Plaintiff's opening brief as Exhibit F); see Civil Action Nos. 2:13-CV-258, 2:13-CV-259 (consolidated with Sprint). In that litigation, the Court also addressed claim construction in a Memorandum Order denying Defendant Apple Inc.'s Motion for Summary Judgment. Civil Action No. 2:12-CV-832, Dkt. No. 384 (E.D. Tex. Nov. 7, 2014) ("Apple Summary Judgment Order") (attached to Plaintiff's opening brief as Exhibit G).

The Court also provided clarification regarding the term "retransmission" in a Memorandum Order granting in part and denying in part Plaintiff's Emergency Motion for Claim Construction in Mobile Telecommunications Technologies, LLC v. Samsung

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Telecommunications America, LLC, No. 2:13-CV-259, Dkt. No. 81 (E.D. Tex. Dec. 11, 2014) ("Samsung Supplemental Order") (attached to...