Judge Albright Allows Early Motion For Summary Judgment To Proceed; Orders Expedited Discovery

On December 8, 2021, Judge Albright issued an order granting limited early discovery in Ancora Technologies, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd. in response to co-defendant Retro Studios' summary judgment motion.

Ancora Technologies accuses Nintendo and Retro Studios of infringing United States Patent No. 6,411,941 (the "'941 Patent"), which covers a "Method of Restricting Software Operation Within a License Limitation." Ancora's complaint alleges that the accused Nintendo gaming consoles, controllers, and other devices infringe Ancora's patent because they "transmit . . . over-the-air ('OTA') software updates."

On October 28, 2021, Retro Studios filed for summary judgment. Retro argues that it "does not belong in this patent infringement case . . . [b]ecause Retro is a game development studio and has no involvement in [any of Nintendo's allegedly infringing activities]." In other words, Retro argues that even if the Nintendo devices were found to infringe, Retro