Intellectual Property News and Reports

This appeal asks us to resolve numerous issues: validity and infringement of various claims of U.S. Patent No. 6,638,268; several evidentiary rulings; and the appropriateness of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota’s entry of sanctions against Appellant Niazi Licensing Corporation. First, Niazi appeals the district court’s determination that all but one of the asserted claims of the ’268 patent are invalid as indefinite. We conclude that, when read in light of the intrinsic evidence, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand the scope of the claims with reasonable certainty. Accordingly, we reverse that determination and remand for the district court to resolve whether Appellee St. Jude Medical S.C., Inc. (St. Jude) has infringed those claims and whether its remaining invalidity defenses are applicable. Second, Niazi appeals the district court’s summary judgment of no induced infringement of the only asserted claim it did not hold indefinite. We agree with the district court that Niazi failed to prove direct infringement—a necessary element of Niazi’s inducement claim—and therefore affirm that judgment. Third, Niazi appeals the district court’s sanction excluding portions of Niazi’s technical expert and damages expert reports because Niazi failed to disclose the predicate facts during fact discovery and granting monetary sanctions. Because Niazi points to no abuse of discretion, we affirm the district court’s entry of sanctions. Finally, Niazi appeals the district court’s exclusion of portions of its damages expert report as unreliable. Because we agree that the damages opinion was conclusory and legally insufficient, we affirm that exclusion as well.

Download Niazi Licensing Corp. v. St. Jude Medical S.C. Inc.