In a recent memorandum opinion, Judge Sue L. Robinson denied plaintiff’s motion for reargument pursuant to Local Rule 7.1.5 regarding claim construction and related summary judgment holdings for U.S. Patent No. RE 39,231 (“the ‘231 Patent”). MobileMedia Ideas, LLC v. Apple, Inc., C.A. No. 10-258-SLR-MPT (D. Del. Sept. 5, 2013). Specifically, plaintiff asserted that “given the rules of claim construction, [the court’s] constructions essentially read out the subject matter of asserted dependent claim 2,” and reargument was therefore warranted. Id. at 5. Denying plaintiff’s motion for reargument, Judge Robinson explained that plaintiff “seeks reargument solely on the basis that the court made an error not of reasoning but of apprehension; it asserts that such an error arose when the court construed claim 12 to exclude the subject matter of dependent claim 2.” Id. at 6. Judge Robinson noted that “the court considered the relationship between claims 12 and 2.” Id. Judge Robinson further explained that the “grounds asserted for reargument merely constitute [plaintiff’s] disagreement with the court’s conclusions and rehash [plaintiff’s] claim construction and summary judgment arguments.” Id. Plaintiff did not identify “any change in law, new evidence, or error in apprehension.” Judge Robinson thus denied plaintiff’s motion for reargument regarding the ‘231 Patent. Id.
Judge Robinson then noted that “the court recognizes that its intention may be subject to misinterpretation and, as such, will clarify its summary judgment memorandum opinion and order regarding the ‘231 patent.” Id. Regarding the construction of claim 2, Judge Robinson explained “the limitation ‘to change a volume of the generated alert sound’ [from independent claim 12] is not interchangeable with, or encompassing of, ‘to stop the sound[]’ [from dependent claim 2]. The specification of the ‘231 patent does not disclose a device with the option of either stopping an alert sound or changing its volume.” Id. at 7. Judge Robinson further noted that “[t]he fact that, on reexamination, the patentee did not follow normal drafting protocol to make the new independent claims inclusive of some of the dependent claims – as opposed to those dependent claims being narrower and in alternative form – is not a problem the court can remedy.” Id. at 8.
MobileMedia Ideas, LLC v. Apple, Inc., C.A. No. 10-258-SLR-MPT (D. Del. Sept. 5, 2013).
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