Game Over: Plain And Ordinary Construction Results In Summary Judgment

Claim Construction Order and Order Granting Summary Judgment, Segan LLC v. Zynga Inc., 14-cv-01315 (Judge Vince Chhabria)

It is ordinary in patent cases for the patentee to ascribe "plain and ordinary" meaning to claim terms while the defendant seeks narrow, limiting language based on intrinsic evidence (e.g., statements in the patent specification) and/or extrinsic evidence (e.g., dictionary definitions). However, Judge Chhabria's recent Order demonstrates that accused infringers have the opportunity to effectively turn the tables in certain situations. That is precisely what Zynga did in its litigation with Segan LLC, where the claims' ordinary language was enough to convince Judge Chhabria that the accused products plainly do not infringe.