Contract analysis

I. Executive Summary Optiwave Semiconductor Corp. ("OWS" or "the Company") filed this patent infringement action on April 22, 2024, against Lumicore Technologies, Inc. ("Lumicore" or "Defendant") in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, marshall Division, before the Honorable James R. Gilstrap. OWS asserts infringement of four U.S. utility patents: U.S. Patent No. 10,234,847 (the "'847 P

II. Current Case Posture and Procedural Status A. Docket Summary for Q4 2024 The following summarizes the principal docket activity during Q4 2024, together with relevant earlier procedural milestones for context: Earlier Procedural Milestones (Pre-Q4 2024): • April 22, 2024: OWS filed its Complaint (D.E. 1). • May 1, 2024: Lumicore was served with the Summons and Complaint. • June 17, 2024: Lumicore filed its Answer

III. Budget and Billing Status A. Fees and Costs Through Q4 2024 As of December 31, 2024, cumulative Calderwood & Harkness LLP fees incurred on this matter total approximately $3.0 million, with approximately $185,000 in costs. These figures are estimated pending finalization of December billing; the final January billing statement incorporating all Q4 2024 charges is expected to be completed by February 10, 2025. Up

IV. Discovery Status A. Document Productions The parties have made substantial document productions to date. As of the end of Q4 2024, the production volumes are as follows: • OWS productions: Approximately 182,000 documents (approximately 1.4 million pages). • Lumicore productions: Approximately 147,000 documents (approximately 980,000 pages). The ESI Protocol Agreement, entered into by the parties on August 15, 202

1. Dr. Jian-Wei Huang (OWS CTO) — November 5, 2024 Dr. Jian-Wei Huang is OWS's Chief Technology Officer and a named inventor on all four asserted patents. He was deposed by Hawthorne Vega & Cruz LLP on November 5, 2024. The deposition lasted approximately seven hours. The examination focused on three principal areas: (a) the prosecution history of the asserted patents, including the amendments made during prosecution

2. Dr. Sandra Michaud (Lumicore CTO) — November 19, 2024 Dr. Sandra Michaud is Lumicore's Chief Technology Officer and a central figure in the development of the accused products. She was deposed on November 19, 2024 by Wendy Schultz on behalf of OWS. The deposition lasted the full seven hours permitted under the Federal Rules. This was a critical deposition for both infringement and willfulness theories, and it yiel

3. Raymond Bautista (Lumicore GC) — December 3, 2024 Raymond Bautista is Lumicore's General Counsel and a key witness on the willful infringement timeline. He was deposed on December 3, 2024 by Wendy Schultz on behalf of OWS. The deposition was limited in scope due to significant privilege issues but nonetheless yielded important admissions. Key Admissions: • Receipt of Licensing Letters: Bautista confirmed that he r

4. Angela Reeves (FairPoint Licensing Group) — December 10, 2024 Angela Reeves is the Managing Director of the FairPoint Licensing Group, the patent licensing firm retained by OWS to conduct pre-suit licensing outreach to Lumicore. Reeves was deposed on December 10, 2024 by both sides. Key Testimony: • Licensing Letters: Reeves confirmed sending two licensing letters to Lumicore on behalf of OWS. The first letter, da

V. Infringement and Invalidity Contentions A. OWS's Infringement Contentions (P.R. 3-1, September 16, 2024) OWS served its P.R. 3-1 Infringement Contentions on September 16, 2024, identifying each asserted claim, each accused product, and the specific basis for infringement on a claim-by-claim, limitation-by-limitation basis, in accordance with the Patent Rules for the Eastern District of Texas. The infringement cont

1. Takahashi et al., "Dense WDM Silicon Photonic MUX" (IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, March 2014): Asserted as anticipation (§ 102) against the '847 Patent. Lumicore contends that Takahashi discloses each limitation of independent Claim 1 of the '847 Patent. Takahashi is the strongest prior-art reference in Lumicore's invalidity case.

2. U.S. Patent No. 8,412,007 (Bergmann) (issued April 2, 2013): Asserted as obviousness (§ 103) against the '562 Patent, in combination with other references. Bergmann discloses a thermal management system for photonic integrated circuits but does not disclose the specific micro-channel heat sink structure recited in the '562 Patent claims.

3. PCT/EP2015/071234 (Simonsen) (September 17, 2015): Asserted as obviousness (§ 103) against the '847 Patent, in combination with Takahashi. Simonsen discloses waveguide multiplexing concepts but addresses a different application and uses a different substrate material.

4. Dr. Li Wei, "Thermal Solutions for PICs" (OFC 2013 conference paper, March 2013): Asserted as anticipation (§ 102) against the '562 Patent. Li Wei discusses thermal management approaches for photonic integrated circuits, including micro-channel cooling, but does not disclose the embedded micro-channel structure with the specific characteristics recited in the '562 Patent claims.

5. Lumicore's own internal design documents (dated 2016–2017): Asserted as a prior-conception defense against the '015 Patent under 35 U.S.C. § 102(g) (pre-AIA). Lumicore contends that its engineering team conceived of the claimed polarization-diverse grating coupler before OWS's priority date and can establish prior invention through these internal documents. Internal Invalidity Analysis. The C&H case team, in consu

VI. Claim Construction Status A. Overview of Disputed Terms The Joint Claim Construction Statement, filed on October 28, 2024 (D.E. 40), identifies 14 disputed claim terms across the four asserted patents. Of these, the parties have agreed on constructions for 2 terms, leaving 12 terms in dispute for resolution by the Court at the Markman hearing. While all 12 disputed terms require careful attention, four terms have