Collection of Working Group Papers Qualifies as a Single Prior Art Reference​

The court denied plaintiff's motion to strike portions of defendants' invalidity contentions concerning their assertion that a set of working group papers qualified as a single prior art reference, but ordered defendants to provide more specific invalidity contentions. "Plaintiff contends that this reference contains twenty-three documents that are not a 'prior art instrumentality.' . . . Defendants argue that the close relationship of the documents is demonstrated in that they are all seeking to solve the same technical problem, they are submitted using the same common format and numbering for the 3GPP working group, they were submitted by members of the group for a common purpose, and they were developed within a relatively small time frame. . . . [A]s a general matter, a network, or network solution/procedure, can constitute a single prior art reference and may include associated references that describe that network and/or solution. The fact that a network could constitute a single prior art instrumentality particularly makes sense where the allegations of infringement read onto specific network procedures as they do here. . . . While the Court finds that Defendants will be allowed to use these documents as a single reference, the Court finds that Defendants shall supplement their contentions to specifically identify the who, what, why, when, and where of the solution they seek to sufficiently put Plaintiff on notice."

Iridescent Networks, Inc. v. AT&T Inc. et al, 6-16-cv-01003 (TXED June 15, 2017, Order) (Love, MJ)