Judge Andrews recently issued his construction of dispute claim terms in the patent infringement action filed by plaintiff Openwave Systems, Inc., which is now known as Unwired Planet. Openwave Systems, Inc. v. Apple Inc., et al., C.A. No. 11-765-RGA, Memo. Op. at 1 (D. Del. Feb. 19, 2014). At issue were three claim terms appearing across three patents that were construed as a group: “mobile device,” “wireless mobile telephone,” and “two way communication device.” The only dispute in construing these terms was whether the patentee had disclaimed mobile devices containing “computer modules” as the defendant contended. In a previous ITC investigation, the ALJ had agreed with the defendants that there was such a disclaimer. Judge Andrews explained that this decision, while not binding, was persuasive, and His Honor construed the terms in the same manner as the ALJ. Id. at 2-3. In adopting this construction, Judge Andrews noted that it did not read out a preferred embodiment of the invention, id. at 4, and that it relied only on a disavowal of claim scope that was clear and unambiguous, id. at 4-6.
Openwave Systems, Inc. v. Apple Inc., et al., C.A. No. 11-765-RGA (D. Del. Feb. 19, 2014).
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