Abbot Labs. v. Baxter Pharm. Prods., Inc.

Plaintiffs Abbott Laboratories and Central Glass Company (collectively “Abbott”) appeal from a judgment of noninfringement of U.S. Patent No. 5,990,176 (“the ’176 patent”) by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Defendants Baxter Pharmaceutical Products, Inc. and Baxter Healthcare Corp. (collectively “Baxter”) cross-appeal the district court’s determination that the asserted claims are valid and its refusal to find unenforceability due to inequitable conduct. This is our second hearing of this case; following our first, we reversed the district court’s claim construction and remanded for trial. Abbott Labs. v. Baxter Pharm. Prods., Inc., 334 F.3d 1274 (Fed. Cir. 2003). The district court conducted a bench trial, then further construed the claims at issue and found them valid and enforceable but not infringed. Abbott Labs v. Baxter Pharm. Prods., Inc., No. 01-CV-1867 (N.D. Ill. Sept. 26, 2005). This appeal timely followed.

Because we hold the asserted claims of the ’176 patent to be anticipated by the disclosure in U.S. Patent No. 5,684,211 (“the ’211 patent”), we reverse the district court’s validity judgment.

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