Intellectual Property and Tech Law Reports

Medical Solutions v. C. Change Surgical

Medical Solutions, Inc. (“MSI”) appeals from a final judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia dismissing MSI’s patent suit for lack of personal jurisdiction over C Change Surgical LLC (“CCS”). Medical Solutions, Inc. v. C Change Surgical LLC, 468 F. Supp. 2d 130 (D.D.C. Dec. 29, 2006). Because CCS’s demonstration of the allegedly infringing device at a trade show did not constitute a “use” under the patent laws, and because the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying MSI further jurisdictional discovery, we affirm.

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Carnegie Mellon University v. Hoffmann La-Roche

Carnegie Mellon University (“CMU”) and Three Rivers Biologicals, Inc. (collectively “appellants”) appeal from the decision of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California holding that Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., Roche Molecular Systems, Inc., Roche Diagnostic Systems, Inc., Roche Biomedical Laboratories, Inc., The Perkin Elmer Corporation, and Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (collectively “Roche”) do not infringe the patents in suit and that certain claims are invalid for lack of written description. Because we conclude that the district court did not err in holding the claims invalid for failure to meet the written description requirement, we affirm the court’s judgment of invalidity. Because we conclude that the court did not err in its infringement analysis, we affirm the court’s judgment of noninfringement.

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Stuart Weitzman, LLC v. Microcomputer Resources

Microcomputer Resources, Inc. (“MCR”) appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Stuart Weitzman, LLC (“Weitzman”) in this declaratory judgment action, arguing both that the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction, and that summary judgment was inappropriate due to the existence of genuine issues of material fact. We do not reach the merits of MCR’s appeal because we conclude that the district court was without subject matter jurisdiction to entertain Weitzman’s suit. Accordingly, we vacate the district court’s order and remand this case with instructions to dismiss it for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

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ASSET MARKETING V. GAGNON

Kevin Gagnon, doing business as Mister Computer (Gagnon), appeals from a grant of summary judgment in favor of Asset Marketing Systems, Inc. (AMS). Gagnon contends that AMS infringed his copyright in six computer programs that he wrote for AMS by continuing to use and modify them without his consent, and that AMS misappropriated trade secrets contained in the programs’ source code. Gagnon also challenges the denial of his ex parte application for an order denying or continuing summary judgment. The district court concluded that Gagnon had granted AMS an unlimited, nonexclusive, implied license to use, modify, and retain the source code of the programs that defeated his copyright infringement and trade secret misappropriation claims. The district court also denied Gagnon’s ex parte application. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291, and we affirm the district court.

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Autozone, Inc v. Strick, Michael

Plaintiffs AutoZone, Inc., and AutoZone Parts, Inc. (collectively “AutoZone”), who together comprise one of the largest retailers of automotive parts in the United States, sued Michael Strick, Strick Enterprises, Inc., and Strick, Inc. (collectively “Strick”) alleging that Strick’s use of the trade names and service marks “Oil Zone” and “Wash Zone” in his automotive services businesses violated the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1051 et seq., and Illinois statutory and common law. At the summary judgment stage, the district court held that AutoZone had failed to produce sufficient evidence to show a likelihood of confusion between AutoZone’s and Strick’s marks as a matter of law and dismissed AutoZone’s suit. AutoZone appeals, and we reverse.

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WMS Gaming Inc. v. WPC Gaming Products, Inc.

Despite receiving proper notice, the defendants have opted to ignore WMS’s lawsuit entirely. The result was a default judgment for both monetary and injunctive relief entered in WMS’s favor. Believing that it was entitled to additional relief, however, WMS appealed, arguing that the district court applied the wrong standard to its claim for an accounting of profits. We reverse.

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Facenda v. NFL Films

We must resolve this clash between parties claiming different types of intellectual property. Although we agree with much of the Court’s trademark analysis, for the reasons that follow we vacate the Court’s grant of summary judgment for the Estate and remand for trial on the Lanham Act claim. We affirm, however, the District Court’s grant of summary judgment to the Estate on the Pennsylvania right-of-publicity claim.

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Janssen Pharmaceutica, N.V. v. Apotex, Inc.

Defendant-Appellant Apotex, Inc. (Apotex) appeals the order of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey dismissing its declaratory judgment action for noninfringement against Plaintiffs-Appellees Janssen Pharmaceutica, N.V. and Janssen, L.P. (collectively Janssen). We affirm.

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In re Swanson

This is an appeal from the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (“PTO”) Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (“Board”). The Board upheld the examiner’s rejection of claims 22-25 of U.S. Patent No. 5,073,484 (“the ’484 patent”) in a reexamination proceeding. In re Swanson, No. 2005-0725, Reexamination No. 90/006,785 (B.P.A.I. May 29, 2007). Previously, this court had affirmed a district court judgment that claims 22 and 23 of the ’484 patent were not invalid. Abbott Labs. v. Syntron Bioresearch, Inc., 334 F.3d 1343 (Fed. Cir. 2003) (“Abbott Labs. II”). We hold that under 35 U.S.C. § 303(a), as amended in 2002, despite consideration of U.S. Patent No. 4,094,647 (“Deutsch”) in the initial examination and our prior decision, there was a substantial new question of patentability regarding whether Deutsch anticipated and made obvious claims 22-25 that made reexamination warranted. As the patentee does not raise additional objections to the Board’s rejections over Deutsch, the Board’s finding that claims 22-25 of the ’484 patent were anticipated and would have been obvious in light of Deutsch is affirmed.

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Howmedica Osteonics Corp. v. Wright Med. Tech., Inc.

Plaintiff-Appellant Howmedica Osteonics Corporation (“Howmedica”) appeals from a final judgment of noninfringement in this patent infringement action against defendant-appellee Wright Medical Technology, Inc. (“Wright”). Under the district court’s claim construction of the term “femoral component including at least one condylar element,” the parties stipulated that the accused product did not infringe the asserted patent claims. Because we conclude that the construction of this claim term was incorrect, we cannot sustain the stipulated judgment. Furthermore, because we agree with the district court that Howmedica did not release its infringement claim as part of an earlier settlement agreement, Wright’s asserted alternative ground for affirmance does not support the judgment. Accordingly, we vacate the judgment of noninfringement, and remand to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

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