McRO, Inc. v. Sony Computer Entertainment America, LLC
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Wu, J.
*1216 RULING ON DEFENDANTS’ MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS BASED ON UNPA-TENTABILITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. § 101
I. Background
The Court is presiding over two sets of consolidated patent infringement cases filed by Plaintiff McRO, Inc., d.b.a. Planet Blue (“Plaintiff” or “Planet Blue”): the “Track 1” cases, consolidated under Case No. CV-12-10322, 1 and the “Track 2” cases, consolidated under Case No. CV 13-1872. 2 The cases all involve Plaintiffs allegation that Defendants directly or indirectly infringed two patents for automatically animating the lip synchronization and facial expressions of 3D characters. The cases are proceeding on different tracks due to the filing or transfer dates of the cases, although various later-filed cases have been consolidated into Track 1 due to corporate or counsel relationships.
This Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings Based on Unpatentability under 35 U.S.C. § 101 (“Motion”) was jointly filed by all defendants in both Tracks: Namco Bandai Games America, Inc.; Sega of America, Inc.; Electronic Arts, Inc.; Disney Interactive Studios, Inc.; Capcom USA, Inc.; Neversoft Entertainment, Inc.; Treyarch Corporation; Warner Bros. Interactive…