Sale of Software and Separate Plug-In Capable of Infringing When Combined Does Not Constitute Direct Infringement​

The court granted defendant's motion for summary judgment that it did not directly infringe plaintiff's dynamic web page generation patent. "[Plaintiff] contends that [defendant] infringed the asserted claims by storing (separately and in different locations) [its] Server software and ARR plug-in on its severs and by selling [the] Server software to customers while also making its optional ARR plug-in available for download. That infringement theory is problematic in light of the Supreme Court's decision in Deepsouth Packing Co. v. Laitram Corp., 406 U.S. 518, 526-29 (1972). . . . The Court . . . explained that a patent 'does not cover the manufacture or sale of separate elements capable of being, but never actually, associated to form the invention.' But contrary to the decision in Deepsouth, [plaintiff] argues that [defendant] directly infringed the asserted claims even though, under this theory, [defendant] did not assemble the software components into the accused product."

Parallel Networks Licensing LLC v. Microsoft Corporation, 1-13-cv-02073 (DED April 10, 2017, Order) (Jordan, CJ)