Grecia v. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC

Background

On March 13, 2020, the court issued an opinion and order granting defendants’ materially identical motions to dismiss in five related cases brought by William Grecia. On March 27, 2020, Grecia moved for reconsideration in each case. The order addresses those motions.

Legal standard

The court explained that reconsideration is available only when a party identifies an intervening change in controlling law, newly available evidence, or a need to correct clear error or prevent manifest injustice. The standard is strict, and reconsideration generally is not appropriate unless the court overlooked controlling decisions or information that could reasonably change its conclusion.

Arguments and analysis

Grecia argued that the Federal Circuit’s decision in Illumina, Inc. v. Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. created an intervening change in controlling law. The court disagreed. It found that Illumina was, at most, potentially persuasive authority and addressed patent claims directed to a natural phenomenon, while Grecia’s claim involved an abstract idea concerning interoperable digital access. The court also found the issues and facts materially different.

Grecia argued that the court had clearly erred by using the construction of “verified web service” in discussing “verified web service account identifier.” The court acknowledged that the substitution appeared in a footnote but found the mistake immaterial. The court stated that the relevant point was that the claim involved a web service used to authenticate a user’s or device’s identity. It also stated that it would issue an amended opinion correcting the error and revising an overbroad statement about Claim 1’s coverage of computer-based information storage.

Grecia also challenged the court’s analogy involving an information-processing system and authorized access to a military base. The court found that the analogy was illustrative and not a clear error, and that Grecia had misread it. The court further found that evidence concerning a procedure used for soldiers reporting to Fort Bliss did not support reconsideration. It characterized Grecia’s remaining arguments as repetitions of arguments made against the original motions and previously found meritless.

Disposition

Judge Valerie Caproni denied Grecia’s motions for reconsideration. The Clerk of Court was directed to close all open motions in the above-captioned cases. The order did not alter the prior order granting defendants’ motions to dismiss.