By Memorandum Opinion entered by The Honorable Leonard P. Stark in Data Engine Technologies LLC v. Google LLC, Civil Action No. 14-1115-LPS (D.Del. September 9, 2020), the Court granted defendant Google LLC’s motion for summary judgment of non-infringement with respect to the claims alleging that Google Sheets infringed the asserted claims of U.S. Patent Nos. 5,590,259 (“the ‘259 patent), 5,748,545 (“the ‘545 patent”), and 6,282,551 (“the ‘551 patent”). The Court found that, “[t]aking the evidence in the light most favorable to DET, no reasonable juror could find that [Google Sheets] meets the three-dimensional spreadsheet limitation.” Id. at *8.
Noteworthy is the fact the District Court had previously granted Google’s motion for judgment on the pleadings contending that all of the asserted claims were invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because they were directed to nonpatentable subject matter. Id. at *1. The Federal Circuit reversed that ruling and remanded for further proceedings after finding that the asserted claims of the ‘259, ‘545, and ‘551 patents are directed to patent-eligible subject matter. Id. at *2. It will be interesting to see whether Plaintiff DET appeals the ruling on summary judgment and, if so, what happens at the Federal Circuit.
A copy of the Memorandum Opinion is attached.