Sentius International, LLC v. Microsoft Corporation

Filing 80

ORDER RE: MOTION FOR LEAVE TO AMEND INFRINGEMENT CONTENTIONS by Judge Paul S. Grewal granting-in-part 70 (psglc2, COURT STAFF) (Filed on 3/26/2014)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

9

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

10
United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

8

SAN JOSE DIVISION

11

SENTIUS INTERNATIONAL, LLC,

12

Plaintiff,

13
14

v.
MICROSOFT CORPORATION,

15

Defendant.

16

)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)

Case No.: 5:13-cv-00825-PSG
ORDER RE: MOTION FOR LEAVE
TO AMEND INFRINGEMENT
CONTENTIONS
(Re: Docket No. 70)

Before the court is Plaintiff Sentius International, LLC’s motion for leave to amend

17
18

infringement contentions 1 to add three dependent claims in this case following the court’s claim

19

construction order 2 issued in January. Defendant Microsoft Corporation opposes. Pursuant to the

20

Civil L.R. and at the invitation of the parties, the court finds this dispute suitable for disposition on

21

the papers. 3

22
23
24
25
1

See Docket No. 70.

2

See Docket No. 66.

26
27
3

28

See Civil L.R. 7-1(b) (“In the Judge’s discretion, or upon request by counsel and with the Judge’s
approval, a motion may be determined without oral argument or by telephone conference call.”).
1
Case No.: 5:13-cv-00825-PSG
ORDER RE: MOTION FOR LEAVE TO AMEND INFRINGEMENT CONTENTIONS

Although Microsoft takes issue with Sentius’ diligence in seeking leave, the court finds

1
2

Sentius moved with adequate diligence following an adverse claim construction ruling. 4

3

Microsoft’s more compelling argument centers on the prejudice it might face by adding dependent

4

claims into the mix in this case. To mitigate any prejudice, the court will permit Sentius to

5

supplement its infringement contentions with three additional dependent claims, but it must drop

6
7
8
9

United States District Court
For the Northern District of California

10

three additional claims in the process from the ’633, ’731 or ’985 patents and keep the total number
of asserted claims within the three remaining patents at twenty-nine. 5 With trial set for February of
2015, plenty of trial preparation time remains. The court also will entertain requests for relief from
the case scheduling order should either party benefit from some reshuffling of intermediate

11
12
13
14

4

See Docket No. 66 at 2.

CLAIM TERM/DISPUTE

CONSTRUCTION

“a link to the at least one of the plurality of
external reference materials/links to the external
reference materials”
The ’633 and ’731 patents

a pointer to data or information or the location
of data or information that is external to the
source material
/
pointers to data or information or the location of
data or information that is external to the source
material

15
16
17
18
19
20

5

See Docket No. 71-3, Ex. B at 3.

21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
2
Case No.: 5:13-cv-00825-PSG
ORDER RE: MOTION FOR LEAVE TO AMEND INFRINGEMENT CONTENTIONS