Seattle Patent Litigation News

Note to self: don't file an early summary judgment motion in Judge Pechman's court where said motion implicates claim construction issues. In an earlier post here, I discussed Wizkids Inc. v. Wizards of the Coast, a dispute involving US Patent No. 7,201,374 for a Method and Article of Manufacture for a Collectible Game. The DJ Plaintiff, Wizkids, Inc., had filed a motion for leave of court to have Judge Pechman hear early summary judgment arguments of invalidity. Judge Pechman denied the motion, citing the fact that it implicated claims construction issues, and that those issues should be briefed and heard in a proper Markman hearing. Recently, Wizkids filed another early motion for summary judgment on an issue concerning the scope of potential damages. In an interesting twist, Judge Pechman ordered the parties to use the joint brief submission procedures of Local Rule 37 to brief arguments on Wizkids latest motion for summary judgment. Under that rule, the motion would be noted for consideration on the day it is filed, and the briefing would take about a week's time total. Here is her order on Wizkids' latest motion for summary judgment. PEchmanoerderjointSJsubmission.pdf Also, it should be noted that Judge Pechman now has a standing order for all patent cases, where she makes it quite clear that she will not entertain any dispositive motion implicating claims construction issues until the claims have been interpreted under Markman. Pechman%27sStanding%20OrderPatentCases.pdf

In other news, the dispute between CRS, LLC and IGN Entertainment, Inc, involving US Patent No. 6,073,124 for a Method and System for Securely incorporating Electronic Information Into Online Purchasing Application has settled. Details of the settlement remain confidential. Judge Zilly's order dismissing the case is attached. CRSORderofDismissal.pdf