TGIF (AKA "DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING"): excerpt from Alacritech v. Microsoft (N.D. Cal. 2005) (04–C-03284):

In its motion for preliminary injunction, Alacritech is only asserting Claim 1 of the '868 patent, which states the following:

“A set of instructions executable on a processor, the set of instructions being for performing steps comprising:

establishing a TCP connection, the TCP connection being at least in part identified by a TCP source port, TCP destination port, IP source address, and IP destination address; and

offloading the TCP connection from the processor to an intelligent TCP offload mechanism.” (‘868 Patent, Claim 1).

Microsoft contends that the Court should construe Claim 1 pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 112 ¶ 6, as a means-plus-function claim.

The Court rejects Microsoft’s contention.