Total Recall Technologies v. Palmer Luckey

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

TOTAL RECALL TECHNOLOGIES, Plaintiff, No. C 15-02281 WHA

v.

CONTRACT CONSTRUCTION

PALMER LUCKEY, et al., ORDER, DENIAL OF DAUBERT

MOTIONS, AND TRIAL SETTING

Defendants. ORDER (TENTATIVE)

15 Palmer Luckey frequented Internet forums on virtual reality and head-mounted displays, i.e., modern electronic versions of the old View Master. He sold his models and kits online. Then eighteen, he came to the attention of Thomas Seidl, an entrepreneur in his mid-thirties. Seidl had developed a 3D 360° camera and he wanted to pair it with a head-mounted display to view its footage, then market the combination. He contacted Luckey to design the head-mounted display. They exchanged many emails. These emails canvassed, among other things, the pixel count of the panel (another word for screen), the physical dimensions of the panel, the advantages and disadvantages of a single panel versus multiple panels, the weight of the …