by Dennis Crouch
Egenera, Inc. v. Cisco Sys., Inc., No. 2023-1428, slip op. (Fed. Cir. July 7, 2025)
During claim construction proceedings, The patentee Egenera and defendant Cisco disputed several claim terms including "computer processor/processor" and aspects of "emulate Ethernet functionality over the internal communication network". However, "neither party asked the district court to determine what the patent specifically means by 'emulate Ethernet functionality,'" content to leave this key term to its "plain and ordinary meaning." This strategic choice ultimately proved fatal when the case reached summary judgment. The district court found that Cisco's CPUs "used" Ethernet functionality but found no evidence of emulation, concluding that "use of a communications network is not emulation of the functionality of that network."
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