SmartData v. Amazon.com, Inc.
SmartData v. Amazon.com, Inc. Case No. 15-cv-01282-SI United States District Court,
District of Northern California, November 10, 2015.
Case Details:
Plaintiff SmartData filed a complaint against Amazon.com claiming patent infringement. The patent in question is entitled “Modular Computer”, also known as the 757 Patent and U.S. Patent No. 7,158,757.
Amazon filed a motion to dismiss this claim on the following grounds: (1) ineligible subject matter and (2) indefiniteness. SmartData argued the motion to dismiss; however, only a few minutes prior to the schedule hearing, they voluntarily dismissed the complaint.
Arguments:
- Amazon argued that the patent in question was not a valid US patent.
- Following the removal of the complaint by SmartData, Amazon alleged that the plaintiff delayed dismissal of the complaint in order to incur a settlement fee.
- Amazon referred to two other cases in which SmartData filed patent infringement and settled the case. Therefore, Amazon.com sought retribution for attorneys’ fees from the court due to “bad faith” on the Plaintiffs’ part.
Summary and Conclusion
The court denied Amazon’s request for attorney’s fees because they did not find the plaintiff in bad faith. The court documents state that “There are many reasons parties choose to resolve their disputes in out-of-court settlement proceedings. The Court does not find this particular point probative of bad faith.”