Alexsam v. IDT at the CAFC

The outcome of Alexsam v. IDT

Defendant IDT Corporation appeals from the judgment
of the District Court for the Eastern District of
Texas determining that certain of IDT’s systems infringed
claims 57 and 58 of U.S. Patent No. 6,000,608 (“the ’608
patent”), and that these claims were not invalid. Plaintiff
Alexsam, Inc. cross-appeals from the court’s judgment
determining that certain other systems were licensed
under claims 57 and 58 of the ’608 patent.
We affirm the judgment of no invalidity. We reverse
the jury’s finding of infringement with regard to IDT’s
Walgreens and EWI systems, but affirm the judgment of
infringement with regard to IDT’s miscellaneous systems
based on the district court’s discovery sanction.

Bad news on the expert:



At no point did Baker testify, except in the cursory
manner described above, that no modifications were
actually made to the terminals’ software in order to allow
them to activate IDT’s cards. Indeed, Baker admitted on
cross-examination that his testimony was limited to what
was “required” in order to activate an IDT card, and that
he had not expressed an opinion as to whether the actual
POS terminals used in the IDT systems had been “reprogrammed,
customized, or otherwise altered” in any way.
See J.A. 13,901-03. He further testified that he had not
spoken with IDT’s retail or intermediary partners or with
POS suppliers about the terminals used in Alexsam’s
systems. Finally, when pressed further, he admitted that
he was “not an expert on terminals.” J.A. 13,924.


AND

The district
court therefore erred in denying Alexsam’s motion for
JMOL of noninfringement as to the Walgreens and EWI
systems.