Novozymes A/S v. DuPont Nutrition Biosciences, APS
July 30, 2013
Plaintiffs-Appellants Novozymes A/S and Novozymes North America, Inc. (collectively, “Novozymes”) and Defendants-Appellees DuPont Nutrition Biosciences APS, Genencor International Wisconsin, Inc., Danisco US Inc., and Danisco USA Inc. (collectively, “DuPont”) are competitors in the market for enzyme preparations used in a variety of commercial applications, including ethanol production. On May 11, 2010, Novozymes brought suit against DuPont in the Western District of Wisconsin, alleging infringement of its U.S. Patent No. 7,713,723 (the “’723 patent”). The ’723 patent claims particular modified enzymes that exhibit improved function and stability under certain conditions. DuPont defended on grounds of noninfringement and invalidity and filed counterclaims seeking a declaratory judgment that the claims of the ’723 patent are invalid for failing to satisfy the enablement and written description requirements of 35 U.S.C. § 112. As litigation progressed, the parties filed several motions for summary judgment. In pertinent part, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of Novozymes on the issue of infringement and denied DuPont’s motion for summary judgment of invalidity under the written description and enablement requirements. The case then went to trial before a jury, which concluded that the ’723 patent’s claims are not invalid on enablement or written description grounds and which awarded infringement damages to Novozymes exceeding $18 million. The district court, however, granted DuPont’s post-trial motion for judgment as a matter of law that the claims of the ’723 patent are invalid under § 112 for failure to satisfy the written description requirement. Novozymes now appeals from the district court’s final judgment of invalidity. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm.
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