Parties Ordered to Show Cause Why Nokia-Lenovo ITC Probe Shouldn't Be Severed

Administrative Law Judge Dee Lord at the International Trade Commission ordered Google, Lenovo and Nokia to file briefs by Aug. 26 showing cause why the Tariff Act Section 337 investigation into allegations that Lenovo computers, tablets and parts infringe five Nokia patents (see 2008050008) shouldn't be “severed” into two separate probes. “Substantial interests” drove Google last week to intervene in the investigation (see 2008130032) because the Lenovo devices accused of infringing U.S. patent 8,583,706 on user interfaces “infringe by way of their incorporation of the Google Assistant functionality.” The patent is alone among the five in Nokia's July 2 complaint not involving H.264 video compression. The “disparate issues” between the '706 patent and the standard-essential H.264 patents “make this investigation a candidate for severance” under ITC rules, said Lord’s order (login required), posted Friday in docket 337-TA-1208. Severing the investigation would promote "more efficient adjudication of issues” specific to the H.264 patents, she said. A separate probe limited to the ’706 patent “could likely be completed on a shorter timeline” than the H.264 investigation “because only a single patent would be at issue,” she said. Lord invited Google attorneys to participate in a Sept. 3 teleconference, "where the parties should be prepared to discuss Google’s intervention and the severance of the investigation."