Case 1:19-cv-01410-MN Document 242 Filed 09/28/23 Page 1 of 7 PageID #: 9637
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`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`
`FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
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`VB ASSETS, LLC,
`
`
`Plaintiff,
`
`
`
`v.
`
`
`AMAZON.COM, INC., et al.,
`
`
`Defendants.
`
`C.A. No. 1:19-cv-01410-MN
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`PROPOSED VOIR DIRE QUESTIONS
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`Good morning. My name is Maryellen Noreika, and I am the Judge who will be presiding
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`over the trial in this civil case for which a jury is about to be selected. I am going to ask you some
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`questions, the purpose of which is to: (1) enable us to determine whether any prospective juror
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`should be excused for cause; and (2) enable counsel for the parties to exercise their individual
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`judgment with respect to what are called peremptory challenges, that is, challenges that counsel
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`can make to a potential juror without giving any reason.
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`Before I ask any questions, I am going to ask my Deputy to swear the jury panel to answer
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`all questions truthfully. (Panel sworn.)
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`You each have a list of the questions that I am also going to read out loud. If you answer
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`“yes” to any of the questions that I ask, please make a note of that on the list. At the end of the
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`questions, I will ask whether you answered yes to any question and, if you did, take you out into
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`my conference room where you will talk with the lawyers and me about your answers.
`
`1
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`
`
`
`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
`
`FOR THE DISTRICT OF DELAWARE
`
`VB ASSETS, LLC,
`
`
`Plaintiff,
`
`
`
`v.
`
`
`AMAZON.COM, INC., et al.,
`
`
`Defendants.
`
`C.A. No. 1:19-cv-01410-MN
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`PROPOSED VOIR DIRE QUESTIONS
`
`Good morning. My name is Maryellen Noreika, and I am the Judge who will be presiding
`
`over the trial in this civil case for which a jury is about to be selected. I am going to ask you some
`
`questions, the purpose of which is to: (1) enable us to determine whether any prospective juror
`
`should be excused for cause; and (2) enable counsel for the parties to exercise their individual
`
`judgment with respect to what are called peremptory challenges, that is, challenges that counsel
`
`can make to a potential juror without giving any reason.
`
`Before I ask any questions, I am going to ask my Deputy to swear the jury panel to answer
`
`all questions truthfully. (Panel sworn.)
`
`You each have a list of the questions that I am also going to read out loud. If you answer
`
`“yes” to any of the questions that I ask, please make a note of that on the list. At the end of the
`
`questions, I will ask whether you answered yes to any question and, if you did, take you out into
`
`my conference room where you will talk with the lawyers and me about your answers.
`
`1
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`Case 1:19-cv-01410-MN Document 242 Filed 09/28/23 Page 2 of 7 PageID #: 9638
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`We are having jury selection for a case that will begin today and last up to 5 days – until
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`Wednesday November 8, 2023. The trial will be timed, so the attorneys must complete their
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`presentations in that time. It is possible, however, that jury deliberations may require you to be
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`here longer than the scheduled number of days. Our trial days will run approximately from 9:00
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`a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day.
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`With that introduction, my questions are:
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`1.
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`Does the schedule that I have just mentioned present a special problem to any of
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`you?
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`2.
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`VB Assets, LLC (“VB Assets”) filed this lawsuit asserting that Amazon.com,
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`Inc., Amazon.com LLC, Amazon Web Services, Inc., A2Z Development Center, Inc. d/b/a
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`Lab126, Rawles, LLC, AMZN Mobile LLC, AMZN Mobile 2 LLC, Amazon.com Services, Inc.
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`f/k/a Amazon Fulfillment Services, Inc., and Amazon Digital Services LLC, which I will refer
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`to collectively as “Amazon” infringe five patents.1 Amazon has responded by asserting that it
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`does not infringe VB Assets’s patents and that the patents are invalid. Have you heard anything
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`about this case prior to today?
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`
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`1 The parties are working in good faith to negotiate a stipulation to address certain non-existent
`entities and to substitute Amazon.com Services LLC for defendants Amazon.com, Inc.,
`Amazon.com LLC, Amazon Web Services, Inc., A2Z Development Center, Inc. d/b/a Lab 126,
`AMZN Mobile LLC, AMZN Mobile 2 LLC, Amazon.com Services, Inc. f/k/a Amazon Fulfillment
`Services, Inc., and Amazon Digital Services, LLC as a defendant in-suit.
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`Case 1:19-cv-01410-MN Document 242 Filed 09/28/23 Page 3 of 7 PageID #: 9639
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`3.
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`[[VB ASSETS PROPOSAL: This case involves voice-enabled speakers,
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`such as Echo, and personal assistants like Alexa. Do you have experience with these types
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`of products?2
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`4.
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`VB ASSETS PROPOSAL: Do you have any personal opinions or views
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`about this type of technology?]]
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`5.
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`[[AMAZON PROPOSAL: This case involves voice-enabled speakers, such
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`as Echo, and personal assistants such as Alexa. Do you have any strong opinions about this
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`type of technology that could impact your ability to be a fair and impartial juror in this
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`case?]]3
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`6.
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`The lawyers and law firms involved in this case are listed here. Please carefully
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`review the list.
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`• Ashby & Geddes, P.A.
`• Fenwick & West LLP
`• Smith, Katzenstein & Jenkins LLP
`• Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C.
`• Neal C. Belgam
`• Ryan S. Benyamin
`• Johnathan L. Chai
`• Dargaye Churnet
`• Rebecca A.E. Fewkes
`• Todd R. Gregorian
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`
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`2 VB ASSETS’S POSITION: We believe that it’s helpful to know if any jurors have
`personal experience with the accused products and, if so, whether they have strong opinions
`about the technology. Amazon’s phrasing may result in juror’s with strong feeling about the
`accused products staying silent because they do not feel comfortable stating that they cannot be
`fair and impartial.
`
`3 AMAZON’S POSITION: VB Assets’ Questions 3 and 4 are too open-ended and will create
`an inefficient voir dire process. Amazon’s Questions 5 captures the subject matter of VB Asserts’
`Questions 3 and 4 and will provide for a more efficient voir dire.
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`
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`Case 1:19-cv-01410-MN Document 242 Filed 09/28/23 Page 4 of 7 PageID #: 9640
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`
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`• J. David Hadden
`• Johnson Kuncheria
`• Su Li
`• Matthew Macdonald
`• Melanie L. Mayer
`• Andrew C. Mayo
`• Steven J. Balick
`• Jason Z. Miller
`• Jamie Y. Otto
`• Ravi Ranganath
`• Vigen Salmastlian
`• Saina S. Shamilov
`• Ryan R. Smith
`• Brad Tennis
`• Allen Wang
`• Jeffrey Ware
`• Min Wu
`• James C. Yoon
`• Eric B. Young
`• Eric Zhou
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`Do you or your immediate family members or close friends know of, have any business
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`dealings with, or have any employment or other relationship with any of these attorneys or law
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`firms?
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`list.
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`7.
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`The potential witnesses in this case are listed here. Please carefully review the
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`• Larry Baldwin
`• Rino Caruccio
`• Frederic Deramat
`• Adesh Desai
`• Philippe Di Cristo
`• Cassius Elston
`• Tom Freeman
`• Scott Hayden
`• Björn Hoffmeister
`• Michael Johnson
`• Todd Kenck
`• Mike Kennewick
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`Case 1:19-cv-01410-MN Document 242 Filed 09/28/23 Page 5 of 7 PageID #: 9641
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`
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`• Rich Kennewick
`• Vinod Krishnan
`• David Meckstroth
`• Rajiv Mehta
`• John Peck
`• David Pepper
`• Joe Polifroni
`• Nathaniel Polish
`• Karthik Ramakrishnan
`• Brett Reed
`• Nick Siska
`• Nikko Ström
`• David Thomas
`• Ryan Thomas
`• Keith Ugone
`• Kelly Vanee
`• Kuansan Wang
`• Matt Wong
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`Are you or is anyone in your immediate family or your close friends related to, or
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`personally acquainted with, any of those individuals?
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`8.
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`Have you or anyone in your immediate family or close friends had any
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`experience with patents, patent law, patented technology, or the United States Patent and
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`Trademark Office?
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`9.
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`Have you or any member of your immediate family or close friends ever applied
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`for or obtained a patent, copyright, and/or trademark?
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`10.
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`Do you have any opinions about patents or the patent system that could impact
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`your ability to be a fair and impartial juror in this case?
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`11.
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`Have you or has anyone in your immediate family or close friends been
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`employed by Amazon or any of its affiliated companies, VB Asserts, or VoiceBox?
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`Case 1:19-cv-01410-MN Document 242 Filed 09/28/23 Page 6 of 7 PageID #: 9642
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`12.
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`Have you or has anyone in your immediate family or close friends had any
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`business dealings with Amazon or any of its affiliated companies, VB Assets, or VoiceBox, that
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`could impact your ability to be a fair and impartial juror in this case?
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`13.
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`Do you or does anyone in your immediate family or close friends own stock in
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`Amazon [[AMAZON PROPOSAL: that constitutes 10% or more of your or their net
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`worth?]]45
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`14.
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`Do you or does anyone in your immediate family or close friends own stock in
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`VB Assets or VoiceBox?
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`15.
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`Do you have any strong feelings, positive or negative, concerning Amazon, VB
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`Assets, or VoiceBox, or their products or services, that could impact your ability to be a fair and
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`impartial juror in this case?
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`16.
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`Do you have any formal education or training or have you worked in any of the
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`following fields: law, engineering, computer programming, computer science, software
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`development, voice assistant technology, or speech processing?
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`17.
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`Have you or any member of your immediate family ever been a plaintiff, a
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`defendant, or a witness in a lawsuit?
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`4 AMAZON’S POSITION: Questions 13 with the addition proposed by Amazon has been
`asked by the Court at least in TrackTime LLC v. Amazon.com, Inc., D. Del. No. 1:18-cv-1518-MN,
`Sept. 13, 2023 Trial Tr. at 23:14–1–6. The question as proposed by VB Assets may result in too
`many Yes answers and affect the efficiency of the voir dire process while not impacting any
`individual’s ability to be a fair and impartial juror. Amazon also does not object to the Court
`eliminating questions 13 and 14.
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`5 VB ASSETS’s POSITION: Defendants believe that understanding if a juror has a financial
`stake in a party is important. A follow-up question can clarify the type of ownership interest.
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`Case 1:19-cv-01410-MN Document 242 Filed 09/28/23 Page 7 of 7 PageID #: 9643
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`18.
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`Have you or any member of your immediate family ever served as a juror in a
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`criminal or civil lawsuit?
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`19.
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`Have you or any member of your immediate family ever had any experience
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`with the legal system that could impact your ability to be a fair and impartial juror?
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`20.
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`This is the last question. Do you know of any other matter that you believe
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`should be called to the Court’s attention as having some bearing upon your qualifications or
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`ability to sit as a juror, or that you think may prevent you from rendering a fair and impartial
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`verdict based solely upon the evidence and my instructions as to the law?
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