09
May
By John Presper
On May 7, 2013, Chief ALJ Charles E. Bullock issued a notice of Remand Determination ("RD") in Certain Video Game Systems and Wireless Controllers and Components Thereof (Inv. No. 337-TA-770).By way of background, on August 31, 2012, ALJ Bullock issued an initial determination finding no violation of Section 337 by Respondents Nintendo of America, Inc. and Nintendo Co., Ltd. (collectively, “Nintendo”) in this investigation with respect to the patents-at-issue. See our October 12, 2012 post for more details. On November 6, 2012, the International Trade Commission (the “Commission”) issued a notice indicating that the Commission revised the claim construction of “toy wand,” and in light of this construction, remanded the case to ALJ Bullock to determine infringement, validity, and domestic industry of the ‘917 and ‘742 patents. See our November 8, 2012 and November 12, 2012 posts for more information about the Commission’s prior notice and opinion.
According to the notice, ALJ Bullock determined on remand that Nintendo does not infringe claim 7 of U.S. Patent No. 7,500,917 ("the '917 patent") and does not contributorily infringe claim 24 of U.S. Patent No. 7,896,742 ("the '742 patent"). The ALJ also held that claim 7 of the '917 patent is neither anticipated not obvious, and that claim 24 of the '742 patent is not obvious. Further, ALJ Bullock held that the technical prong of the domestic industry requirement is satisfied for both patents.
We will provide additional details once the public version of the RD is issued.