In INO Therapeutics LLC, et al. v. Praxair Distribution Inc., et al., C.A. No. 15-170-GMS (D. Del. May 24, 2016), Judge Sleet appointed a special master to hear the plaintiffs’ motion to disqualify the defendants’ counsel. Prior to plaintiffs filing their motion, the parties filed a stipulation agreeing that the briefing on the motion to disqualify…

In Visual Memory LLC v. NVIDIA Corporation, C.A. No. 15-789-RGA (D. Del. May 27, 2016), Judge Andrews granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss and invalidated the plaintiff’s patent under 35 U.S.C. § 101 as containing unpatentable subject matter. The patent-in-suit purported to claim the storage of certain data types by use of “[a] computer memory system…

In Inventor Holdings LLC v. Bed Bath & Beyond Inc., C.A. No. 14-448-GMS (D. Del. May 31, 2016), Judge Sleet granted the defendant’s motion for attorneys’ fees and costs but denied its motion for expert fees and costs. Following dismissal of the plaintiff’s complaint under Alice, affirmed by the Federal Circuit on appeal, the defendant moved…

This update provides short updates on judicial decisions, trends, and notable events in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, traditionally one of the three busiest jurisdictions for intellectual property litigation.

In Device Enhancement LLC v. Amazon.com, Inc., C.A. No. 15-762-SLR (D. Del. May 17, 2016), Judge Robinson granted the defendant’s motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s claims of infringement of its computer programming patent under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) and 35 U.S.C. § 101. Judge Robinson summarized the current two-step Alice framework for determining patentability…

In EMC Corporation, et al. v. Pure Storage Inc., C.A. No. 13-1985-RGA (D. Del. May 13, 2016), Judge Andrews considered a motion to seal evidence at trial and struck two financial exhibits from the record as improvidently admitted into evidence. The exhibits were large spreadsheets admitted on CD-ROMs and unusable by the jury. Judge Andrews also…

In Delaware Display Group LLC v. Lenovo Holding Company Inc., C.A. No. 13-2108-RGA (D. Del. May 10, 2016), Judge Andrews granted in part the parties’ motion to redact a discovery conference transcript, but denied the proposal to redact certain pages where the parties did not show a “clearly defined and serious injury” that would arise from…

In Blackbird Tech LLC v. Service Lighting and Electrical Supplies, Inc., et al., C.A. No. 15-53-RGA (D. Del. May 18, 2016), Judge Andrews imposed restrictions on the information that a non-practicing entity plaintiff’s in-house counsel, who also served as its executives, could view. The defendants sought to impose a prosecution bar that would exclude the plaintiff’s…

Effective July 5, 2016, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) will increase the maximum penalty for failing to post the required federal nondiscrimination notices from $210 to $525 for each posting violation. Employers covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans With Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act must…

Trump Taj Mahal Associates, LLC, and certain affiliated entities (collectively, the debtors) owned and operated the Trump Taj Mahal Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Taj Mahal and UNITE HERE Local 54, the largest of the debtors’ employee unions, were party to a CBA that was negotiated in 2011 and had a three-year term. On September…