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

ORDER CONSTRUING CLAIM TERMS OF THE '987, '855, '012 AND '787 PATENTS

On November 10, 2008, the Court held a hearing to construe the disputed terms of United States Patent Numbers 5,124,987 (the “'987 patent”), 5,430,855 (“'855 patent”), 5,632,012 (“'012 patent”), and 6,421,-787 (“'787 patent”) pursuant to Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc., 517 U.S. 370 , 116 S.Ct. 1384 , 134 L.Ed.2d 577 (1996). Having read the papers and considered the arguments of counsel and the relevant legal authority, the Court hereby rules as follows.

1. BACKGROUND

On October 29, 2007, Sun Microsystems Inc. (“Sun”) filed its complaint against Network Appliance Inc. (“NetApp”) for Patent Infringement, Unfair Competition Under the Lanham Act and Unfair Competition under California Business and Professions Code § 17200. On November 2, 2007, Sun filed its First Amended Complaint, alleging that NetApp infringes the four patents noted above, as well as United States Patent Nos. 6,049,528 and 5,721,937 (collectively, the “Sun patents”), through its Fabric Attached Storage, V-series and NearStore products.

On December 21, 2007, NetApp filed its Answer and Counterclaim to First Amended Complaint. NetApp…