Contract Law Expert Report Stricken as Unhelpful

The court granted plaintiff's motion to strike report of defendant's contract expert regarding whether defendant sold anticipating prior art before the critical date because the testimony was unhelpful. "There is little evidence in the expert report that [the expert] has brought any of his expertise to this exercise. . . . The [expert] indicates no particular expertise in review of purchase orders, invoices, product shipping records, or the like. He indicates no particular expertise in interpreting what the fact witnesses who have been deposed have said. He indicates no reliance on anything relevant to the particular industry. In my opinion, any reasonably literate English-speaker could apply the legal principles to the factual record on the relevant sale and offer to sell issues. . . . The only specialized knowledge that [the expert] has is the same thing -- contract law -- which in our system is my responsibility. For the most part, his expert report outlines the closing argument one might expect Defendant's lawyer to make after the jury has heard the underlying testimony and seen the underlying documents."

BASF Corporation v. Johnson Matthey Inc., 1-14-cv-01204 (DED June 6, 2018, Order) (Andrews, USDJ

Valuation Cap Based on Difference Between Prior Offer to Sell and Prior Offer to License Patent-in-Suit Does Not Render Expert Opinion Unreliable

The court denied plaintiff's motion to strike portions of the rebuttal report of defendants' damages expert because his theory capping the value of a patent-in-suit based on prior licensing negotiations was not unreliable. "Plaintiff complains about [the expert's] conclusion that, because [a technology transfer company] offered to sell the [patent-in-suit] to [a third party] for $100 million in December 2011 and to license the patent for $70 million in March 2012, the $30 million difference means the value of [the patent] to all other potential licensees cannot be more than 30% of the value of the patent. . . . That the Federal Circuit may not have endorsed a damages theory does not make such a theory incorrect or unreliable -- it simply means it’s untested by an appellate court. Also, although Plaintiff may disagree with [the expert's] ultimate conclusion and reasoning, he clearly considered the passage of three years after [the transfer company's] negotiations with [the third party] in his analysis."

Kaist IP US LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al, 2-16-cv-01314 (TXED May 31, 2018, Order) (Payne, MJ)

Expert’s Reliance on Unaccepted License Proposal Does Not Render Opinion Unreliable

The court denied defendant's motion to exclude the testimony of plaintiff's damages expert regarding a reasonable royalty rate because his reliance on an unaccepted proposal was sufficiently reliable. "⁠[The expert] discussed several additional distinguishing characteristics between the contemplated cross-license and the hypothetical license, including that the cross-license was never executed, the negotiation was for a worldwide license, design-around costs, and the possible collaboration between the parties. . . . [Defendant] argues that [his] opinions regarding this contemplated royalty offer should be excluded, because offers -- particularly if never conveyed -- have little value. . . . [A]t the time of this offer, [plaintiff's predecessor] and [a third party] were discussing a cooperation agreement, a situation quite distinct from anticipation of litigation. [Defendant's] criticisms can be adequately addressed through cross-examination and the presentation of competing evidence."

Plastic Omnium Advanced Innovation and Research v. Donghee America, Inc. et al, 1-16-cv-00187 (DED May 22, 2018, Order) (Stark, USDJ)

Technical Expert’s Indefiniteness Opinions Excluded as Irrelevant for Relying on Claim’s Intended Result

The court granted plaintiff's motion to exclude the testimony of defendants' technical expert regarding defendants' enablement and written description theories as irrelevant. "Defendants conclude the claim limitation doesn’t satisfy the written-description or enablement requirements because the reduction can be achieved in more ways than just reducing the thickness of the insulator. But the proper focus is on structure rather than the intended result. [The claim at issue] is directed to a device, and the specification describes an embodiment of that device . . . . While the limitation recites the result of selecting that range, that result is not a structural limitation of the claim. Because his opinion is based on an incorrect interpretation of the limitation, the Court will grant the motion and exclude as irrelevant [the expert's] opinion that the specification does not provide guidance as to how the parasitic capacitance is reduced."

Kaist IP US LLC v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. et al, 2-16-cv-01314 (TXED May 17, 2018, Order) (Payne, MJ)