Earlier this week I posted on the outcome of the first mini-Markman procedure in Tyler in the Parallel Networks case, which resulted in a claims construction ruling which supported granting summary judgment of noninfringement as to 99 out of 112 of the defendants.
Judge Love's ruling in the same situation in the Whetstone litigation actually came out two days earlier on August 10, but the result was not as good for the defendants. Judge Love confirmed at the hearing that only a favorable ruling on one of the terms would result in summary judgment of noninfringement, and accordingly focused on that term at this stage in the case. "The Court permitted limited discovery and an early Markman process to avoid unnecessary costs to the parties and to promote judicial efficiency on the premise that the case could be resolved on a discrete issue of claim construction," he wrote. "Accordingly, at this time, the Court need only provide a construction of the term “interface card,” the sole term, based on the parties’ presentations, that may potentially resolve the case at this early stage."
Judge Love construed the term, and as he did not accept the construction proposed by the defendants, he denied the motion for summary judgment of noninfringement.
