Genuine Enabling Tech. LLC v. Sony Corp.

Genuine Enabling Tech. LLC v. Sony Corp.

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

GOLDBERG, J.

In this patent infringement lawsuit, Plaintiff Genuine Enabling Technology, LLC ("Genuine Enabling") asserts that video game controllers and consoles sold by Defendants Sony Corporation and related entities (collectively "Sony") infringe U.S. Patent No. 6,219,730 (the '730 patent). Each party has identified an engineering and a damages expert. Before [*2]  me are four motions to exclude these experts' testimony pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S. Ct. 2786, 125 L. Ed. 2d 469 (1993). For the reasons that follow, these motions will be granted in part and denied in part.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Genuine Enabling's Claimed Invention

The '730 patent describes an invention for transmitting multiple data streams from a user input device such as a mouse or keyboard to a computer over a single communication link. According to the patent's specification, sending multiple data streams over a single communication link is advantageous because it makes efficient use of computer hardware. ('730 patent, col. 1.)

The patent refers to two of these data streams as the "input stream" and "user input stream," respectively. Despite the different names, both are streams of inputted data and both may originate with the user. The "input stream" derives from what the patent terms an "input signal," and the "user input stream" is produced by what the patent calls a "user input means."

To transmit the two data streams over a single communication link, the "input stream" and "user input stream" are synchronized and combined into a "combined data stream." ('730 patent, cols. 3-6.) The component of the invention that handles synchronizing [*3]  and combining is referred to, in some claims, as an "encoding means," and in others as a "framer." (See, e.g., claims 1, 16.)

Genuine Enabling alleges that Sony's accused products infringe claims 10, 14, 16, 18, 21, and 23. Claim 16 is illustrative of these claims and reads:

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