In a November 6, 2024 opinion in Certain Computing Devices Utilizing Indexed Search Systems and Components Thereof, the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”) held that statements, disclaimers, and positions taken during the prosecution of a later patent apply to the construction and interpretation of the same term in an earlier related patent. Using this standard, the Commission found no violation of Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, because a disputed claim term’s scope in an earlier asserted patent was narrowed by the applicant’s disclaimer in a later related patent.
The Asserted Patents and Claims
X1 Discovery, Inc. initiated the ITC investigation by filing a complaint against seven respondents, alleging violations of Section 337 based on infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 8,498,977 (“the ’977 Patent”) and 8,856,093 (“the ’093 Patent”). These patents relate to systems and methods for efficient search indexing. The patents share a common specification and claim priority to the same parent application shown below. In addition, the ’093 Patent had a child patent, U.S. Patent No. 9,633,139 (“the ’139 Patent).