Sun Microsystems, Inc. v. Network Appliance, Inc.

ORDER CONSTRUING CLAIM TERMS OF THE '720 AND '417 PATENTS

On November 24, 2008, the Court held a hearing to construe the disputed terms of United States Patent Numbers 7,318,720 (the “'720 patent”) and 6,868,417 (the “'417 patent”) (collectively, the “NetApp patents”) pursuant to Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc., 517 U.S. 370 , 116 S.Ct. 1384 , 134 L.Ed.2d 577 (1996). Prior to the hearing, the parties stipulated to construction of the disputed term of United States Patent Number 7,107,385 (the “'385 patent”), as reflected in their November 21, 2008, letter to the Court (docket no. 103). Pursuant to Court order, the parties filed additional briefs following the hearing. Without leave of Court or stipulation, Sun submitted a separate letter brief dated December 3, 2008, concerning the construction of “inode” in the '417 patent (docket no. 109). NetApp objected to the letter as procedurally improper and misstating the record (docket no. 111). The Court hereby grants the motion to strike Sun’s letter brief (docket no. 109) pursuant to Civil Local Rule 7-3(d).

The procedural history of this action is summarized in the December 22, 2008 Order, 2008 WL 5384081 , construing the Sun…