Mobile Motherboard Inc. v. AIOEXPC, ALADAWN, and AKLWY, No. 24 CV 8703, (N.D. Ill. May 29, 2026) (Shah, J.).
Judge Shah denied plaintiff’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 59(e) & 60(b) motion to alter or amend the judgment and for leave to amend in this patent infringement case related to a two-part computer system comprising a “computer box” and a separate, external, handheld “motherboard” that connects to it. The Court had previously granted judgment on the pleadings for defendants, Chinese companies selling handheld “computer sticks.” The Court found no manifest error warranting the extraordinary relief available under Rule 59(e). Plaintiff’s own claim charts demonstrated that defendants’ computer sticks satisfied both the “computer box” limitations (housing, internal circuitry, communication ports, internal bus) and nearly all the “motherboard” limitations in a single integrated product. This was fundamentally inconsistent with the patent’s requirement of two physically separate components. Because the accused products cannot simultaneously be both the external motherboard and the computer box under the patent’s own claim language, plaintiff had pleaded itself out of court.
The Court denied leave to amend as futile because the same claim-chart specifications would still show the integrated single-device design.