LUCENT TECHNOLOGIES INC. v. Gateway, Inc.
Opinion
Opinion
Brewster, J.
ORDER ON MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN GROUP
I. INTRODUCTION
On November 16, 2006, and November 21, 2006, Lucent and Microsoft, respectively, filed motions for summary adjudication on the Group 2 audio coding patents, U.S. Patent Nos. 5,341,457 (“the '457 patent”) and RE 39,080 (“the '080 patent”). The parties then filed oppositions and replies thereto and a hearing was held on January 4, 2007. Having considered the parties motions and evidence in support thereof, the Court now rules as explained herein.
II. BACKGROUND
Lucent filed for patent infringement against Dell and Gateway in 2002. The case was originally filed in the Eastern District of Virginia and then transferred to the Southern District of California. Microsoft filed a declaratory judgment against Lucent in 2003. The cases were eventually consolidated. The instant Group 2 audio coding patents are at issue only between Lucent and Microsoft; they have not been asserted against Dell or Gateway. Microsoft’s Windows Media Players WMP 10 and WMP 11 and the software contained therein for encoding into MP3 format are alleged to infringe one or both of the patents.