Source: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-casd-3_12-cv-00501/USCOURTS-casd-3_12-cv-00501-0/pdf.json

Nature of Suit Code: 830
Nature of Suit: Patent
Cause of Action: 35:271 Patent Infringement

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12 DEC - 7 Atill: I' 

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA 

GAMETEK LLC, 

Plaintiff, 

vs. 

F ACEBOOK, INC.; et al., 

Defendants. 

CASE NO. 12-CV-501 BEN (RBB) 

ORDER: 

(1) GRANTING MOTION TO 

DISMISS UNDER 25 U.S.c. § 299 

AND FEDERAL RULE OFCnnL 

PROCEDURE 21 [Docket No. 97] 

(2) DENYING AS MOOT JOINT 

MOTIONS TO SEVER CLAIMS 

AGAINST DEFENDANTS [Docket 

Nos. 124, 133] 

Presently before the Court is a Motion to Dismiss Under 35 U.S.C. § 299 and Federal Rule of 

Civil Procedure 21, filed by Defendants Cie Games, CrowdStar Inc., CrowdStar International Limited, 

CrowdStar Network, LLC (collectively, "CrowdStar"), Electronic Arts Inc. d/b/a EA Interactive d/b/a 

Playfish d/b/a Pogo Games ("EA"), Funzio, Inc., Funzio USA, Inc. (collectively, "Funzio"), Zynga 

Inc., and Digital Chocolate, Inc. (Docket No. 97.) In addition, Defendants 6Waves LLC, 6Waves 

Technologies, LLC, 6Waves US, Inc., Six Waves Inc. (collectively, "6Waves") (Docket No. 98) and 

Rock You, Inc. (Docket No. 99) joined the Motion to Dismiss. 

In the Motion to Dismiss, Defendants sought to be dismissed for improper joinder under 35 

U.S.C. § 299 and Rule 21. Under § 299(b), "accused infringers may not be joined in one action as 

defendants or counterclaim defendants, or have their actions consolidated for trial, based solely on 

allegations that they each have infringed the patent or patents in suit." 

- 1 - 12-CV-501 

Case 3:12-cv-00501-BEN-RBB Document 167 Filed 12/07/12 Page 1 of 2
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II 

Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed Facebook, Inc., Facebook Operations, LLC, Facebook 

Payments, Inc., and Facebook Services, Inc. (collectively, "Facebook") from this action. (Docket No. 

119). Once Facebook had been dismissed, Plaintiff agreed that joinder of the Defendants was no 

longer appropriate pursuant to § 299(b) or Rule 20. However, Plaintiff argued that the claims against 

Cie Games, CrowdStar, EA, Funzio, Zynga, Digital Chocolate, 6Waves, and RockYou should be 

severed into different cases, rather than dismissed from the action. Cie Games, CrowdStar, EA, 

Funzio, Zynga, Digital Chocolate, and RockY ou, along with Plaintiff, subsequently filed Joint Motions 

to Sever Claims Against Defendants. (Docket Nos. 124, 133.) The parties agreed that the claims 

against the Defendants should be severed from the action, and the Clerk ofCourt should open a new 

case number for each of the Defendants. 

"Misjoinder ofparties is not a ground for dismissing an action. On motion or on its own, the 

court may at any time, on just terms, add or drop a party. The court may also sever any claim against 

a party." FED. R. CIV. P. 21; see also Medsquire LLC v. Quest Diagnostics, Inc., No. ll-CV-04504, 

2011 WL 7710203, at *2 (CD. Cal. Dec. 1,2011). While a court has discretion to either dismiss 

parties or sever claims, courts generally prefer dismissing parties over severing claims. See, e.g., 

Innovus Prime, LLC v. LG Elecs., Inc., No. C 11-04223,2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6990, at *11 (N.D. 

CaL Jan. 18, 2012) ("[C]ourts in the Northern District of California routinely dismiss defendants in 

... patent cases involving misjoinder."). 

Here, the Court fmds it proper to dismiss Defendants Cie Games, CrowdStar, EA, Funzio, 

Zynga, Digital Chocolate, 6Waves, and RockYou, rather than sever the claims against them. 

Accordingly, the Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED. Cie Games, CrowdStar, EA, Funzio, Zynga, 

Digital Chocolate, 6Waves, and RockYou are DISMISSED. Should Plaintiff choose to pursue its 

claims against these Defendants, it may do so in separately filed actions as required by § 299. In 

addition, the Joint Motions to Sever Claims Against Defendants are DENIED AS MOOT. 

IT IS SO ORDERED. 

DATED: December flO12 

- 2- 12-CV-501 

Case 3:12-cv-00501-BEN-RBB Document 167 Filed 12/07/12 Page 2 of 2