Word to Info, Inc. v. Google Inc.
Opinion
Lead Opinion
Orrick, J.
ORDER ON PARTIAL MOTION TO DISMISS
INTRODUCTION
This is a patent infringement action in which plaintiff Word to Info, Inc. (“WTI”) accuses defendant Google, Inc. of infringing seven related patents claiming techniques for natural language processing, 1 Google filed this partial motion to dismiss *988 seeking dismissal of: (Í) WTI’s willful infringement claims, on the ground that they are based exclusively on Google’s alleged post-filing knowledge of the patents-in-suit; and (2) WTI’s claims of infringement of the ’091, ’840, ’509, ’603,. and ’436 patents, on the ground that due to errors during the application process in describing the chain of priority for these patents, each is now invalid as a matter of law. I agree with Google that WTI’s claims of willful infringement should be dismissed because they are based exclusively on Google’s knowledge since the filing of the complaint, and I agree with WTI that a certificate of correction under 35 U.S.C. § 255 may be used to correct a mistaken or omitted “specific reference” for. the purposes of 35 U.S.C. § 120 . For those reasons, Google’s motion is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART.