This patent infringement action was brought by appellant PharmaStem Therapeutics, Inc., in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. PharmaStem sued six defendants (four of which are appellees before us in this appeal), alleging that the defendants had infringed two patents owned by PharmaStem, U.S. Patent No. B1 5,004,681 (“the ’681 patent”) and U.S. Patent No. 5,192,553 (“the ’553 patent”), a continuation-in-part of the ’681 patent. At the conclusion of the trial, the jury returned verdicts for PharmaStem on both patents, finding both patents infringed and not invalid. The jury also rejected the defendants’ counterclaims of inequitable conduct and violation of the antitrust laws.
The defendants filed motions for judgment as a matter of law (“JMOL”) and a new trial. In response, the district court initially entered an order granting a new trial on the issue of infringement of the ’681 patent and JMOL of noninfringement as to the ’553 patent. Subsequently, however, the court vacated the new trial order as to the ’681 patent and instead entered JMOL of noninfringement as to that patent. The court denied the defendants’ JMOL motions with respect to various asserted grounds of patent invalidity. PharmaStem now appeals from the JMOL orders on infringement, and the defendants cross-appeal from the court’s refusal to grant JMOL on invalidity. We affirm the district court’s judgment as to the infringement issues. With respect to the counterclaim of invalidity for obviousness, however, we reverse the judgment and direct the entry of judgment for the defendants.
