Common interest privilege is upheld
Xerox Corporation v. Google Inc. and Yahoo! Inc., C. A. No. 10-136-LPS, August 1, 2011.
Stark, J. Defendants’ motion to compel documents withheld as privileged under the common interest doctrine is denied. Court construes patent terms.
Claim construction briefing was completed on March 26, 2011 and a Markman hearing was held on May 19, 2011. The court construed five terms and resolved a dispute regarding two order-of-steps requirements. The word “a” is generally understood to mean “one or more,” although there can be exceptions. The court resolves a discovery dispute regarding third-party documents withheld on the basis of common interest privilege. The court found there was a common legal interest between Xerox and its licensing agent, noting the third party was retained to assist with licensing strategy and patent enforcement, including litigation.
