Previous (Summary Judgment Briefing Papers Complete) Next (Ruling on Summary Judgment)

December 4, 2009: Hearing on Summary Judgment

The Summary Judgment hearing took place today.

The hearing closely followed the three questions provided in the "Notice of Tentative Ruling and Questions" issued yesterday:

  • Is the question of originality of the copied work an issue of fact or an issue that can be resolved as a matter of law? Is there a dispute of fact regarding whether the selection and arrangement of data in the copied files is sufficiently original to be copyrightable?
  • If the Court considers the expert reports submitted by Plaintiff, is there a dispute of fact regarding the damages allegedly sustained by Plaintiff? Regardless, does the Federal Circuit's holding in this matter, 535 F.3d 1373, 1378 (Fed. Cir. 2008), as well as the testimony of Penny and Jacobsen indicate that Plaintiff suffered damages, even in the absence of a specific monetary figure?
  • Specifically where in the record is there a dispute of fact regarding whether the scope of QSI's permission was actually communicated to Plaintiff?

The Court questioned both sides closely for about an hour. (Unfortunately, due to Court rules, we won't be able to post the transcript for about six months) The next step will be a written ruling. We'll post that as soon as we get it.

Previous (Summary Judgment Briefing Papers Complete) Next (Ruling on Summary Judgment)