JMBM Secures Summary Judgment for VIZIO, Inc. in Patent Infringement Lawsuit

On February 14, 2019, Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP (JMBM) obtained a significant victory on behalf of VIZIO when Chief Judge Leonard P. Stark of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware granted VIZIO’s motion of non-infringement on patent claims asserted by Wi-LAN Inc. Plaintiff Wi-LAN alleged VIZIO infringed its patent on “de-interlacing” technology used in certain VIZIO televisions sold in the United States.

Plaintiff Wi-LAN filed its lawsuit against VIZIO in 2015. Wi-LAN originally accused VIZIO of infringing three of its patents. However, the scope of the action was reduced to a single patent, which expired in 2017, by the time the parties’ competing summary judgment motions were heard.

As explained in the opinion made public on February 19, 2019, Wi-LAN’s purported evidence of infringement depended on two sets of declarations as well as source code obtained from manufacturers for VIZIO’s System-on-Chips (“SoCs”) which house the accused functionality. For purposes of the opinion, the Court assumed that every limitation of the asserted claims were met by the accused products. Nonetheless, consistent with the arguments presented in VIZIO’s summary judgment motion, the Court concluded that the SoC declarations and source code were inadmissible and would be excluded from trial. The Court further held that without that critical evidence, no reasonable juror could find that VIZIO’s accused televisions practice the limitations of the asserted claims. Thus, VIZIO’s motion for summary judgment of non-infringement was granted. The Court’s Order simultaneously dismissed identical claims asserted by Wi-LAN against Sharp Electronics Co. (represented by separate counsel).

About VIZIO
Headquartered in Irvine, California, VIZIO is a leading HDTV brand in America and the #1 Sound Bar Brand in America. VIZIO’s mission is to deliver high performance, smarter products with the latest innovations at a significant savings that can be passed along to consumers.

About JMBM’s Patent Litigation Group
JMBM’s Patent Litigation Group represents middle-market companies, startups and the FORTUNE 500 in patent litigation. Our patent litigators are comfortable with both complex legal issues and complex technologies. Whether defending infringement claims or pursuing patent violations, we focus on delivering results.