Intellectual Property News

Case Summaries

Intellectual Property

[03/11] Delaware Valley Floral Group, Inc. v. Shaw Rose Nets, LLC
In plaintiffs' suit seeking declaratory relief against the inventor and owner of a patent relating to a process that produces larger rose heads by placing elastic, porous nets over the rose heads during the growing process, district court's grant of summary judgment pursuant to the on-sale bar under section 102(b) is affirmed where: 1) defendant failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact surrounding the dates of conception or commercial sales; 2) defendant failed to dispute that the invention was ready for patenting; and 3) defendant failed to show that the district court erred in disregarding the evidence presented in its motion for reconsideration.

[03/11] Lab. Corp. of Am. Holdings v. Metabolite Labs., Inc.
In an action for a declaratory judgment that plaintiff did not breach a license agreement for failure to pay know-how royalties on homocysteine assays performed after judgment had been entered in a prior patent infringement and breach of contract action, defendant's appeal from summary judgment for plaintiff is transferred to the Tenth Circuit as: 1) the present cause of action does not arise under federal patent law nor does defendant's right to relief necessarily depend on resolution of a substantial question of federal patent law, and thus, this court does not have jurisdiction over the appeal; and 2) this action is a state law contract dispute over know-how royalties brought pursuant to the district court's diversity jurisdiction.

[03/09] Richardson v. Stanley Works, Inc.
In an action for patent infringement relating to a design patent for a multi-function carpentry tool that combines a hammer with a stud climbing tool and a crowbar, a district court's finding of noninfringement is affirmed as the district court correctly construed the claim at issue and correctly determined that the patent was not infringed.

[03/08] Ajinomoto Co., Inc. v. Int'l Trade Comm'n
In plaintiffs' suit alleging violation of section 337 of the Tariff Act in the importation and sale of certain lysine feed products made by the methods claimed in their patents relating to improved methods of producing L-lysine with genetically engineered E-Coli bacteria, the International Trade Commission's determination of no section 337 violation is affirmed where: 1) the asserted claims of plaintiffs' '698 patent and '160 patents are invalid under 35 U.S.C. section 112 for failure to comply with the best mode requirement; and 2) plaintiffs' argument that the Commissioner erred in finding '698 patent is unenforceable due to inequitable conduct is waived.

[03/04] US v. Xu
Defendant's conviction for trafficking in counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs is vacated as to one count where a rational juror could not have found beyond a reasonable doubt that the Zyprexa mark, allegedly misappropriated by defendant, was registered on the USPTO's principal register.

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Trade Secrets

[02/12] Ansys, Inc. v. Computational Dynamics N. Am., Ltd.
In plaintiff's suit against its former employee and his new employer (a competitor) claiming breach of noncompetition and confidentiality clauses in the employee's employment contract, interference with contractual relations, misappropriation of trade secrets, and unfair trade practices, denial of plaintiff's request for preliminary injunction to enforce the provisions of a one-year noncompetition clause in the employment agreement is affirmed as the district court did not abuse its discretion by finding that plaintiff has failed to make a showing of likelihood of success on the breach of contract claim, or a likelihood of irreparable injury.

[12/29] Jasmine Networks, Inc. v. Sup. Ct.
In plaintiff's action under the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act claiming that the defendants misappropriated certain trade secrets belonging to plaintiff, trial court's dismissal of the complaint on the ground that plaintiff had forfeited its standing to maintain an action for misappropriation when it had gone through bankruptcy proceedings shortly after filing the complaint is reversed where: 1) a current ownership requirement is not supported by general principles of property or tort law; 2) existing authority imposes no "current ownership requirement" on trade secret plaintiffs; 3) adoption of a current ownership requirement in trade secrets cases is not warranted by analogy to trademark, patent, or copyright law; and 4) no policy concern preponderates in favor of current ownership requirement.

[12/03] Ultimax Cement Mfg. Corp. v. CTS Cement Mfg. Corp.
In a patent infringement action involving patents related to rapid-hardening, high-strength cement, summary judgments finding noninfringement and that no trade secret was violated is affirmed in part, dismissed in part, vacated in part, reversed in part, and remanded where: 1) district court's finding of noninfringement is vacated and remanded as the court erred in claim construction of the the term "soluble CaSo4 anhydride"; 2) district court's grant of summary judgment of laches is reversed and remanded relating to one patent as it was not clear that plaintiff knew or should have known of defendant's alleged infringement before it conducted discovery on another patent in 2002; 3) district court erred in granting summary judgment finding that one patent claim was indefinite; 4) plaintiffs' appeal with respect to one patent is dismissed as it waived the argument of its invalidity; 5) denial of plaintiffs' motion to amend their complaint is affirmed; 6) summary judgment finding no trade secret violations is affirmed; 7) the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying plaintiffs' motion to disqualify defendants' attorneys; and 8) the district court's decision on exceptional case status is vacated for further proceedings on remand.

[11/24] Standard Microsystems Corp. v. Winbond Elec. Corp.
In plaintiff's suit against a Taiwanese corporation and an Israeli corporation claiming that they misappropriated the design of a microchip used in manufacturing personal computers, trial court's entry of default judgment against defendants is reversed where: 1) undisputed facts plainly establish defendants' attorney's fault necessary to trigger a right to mandatory relief; 2) plaintiff's argument that relief was barred by Code of Civ. Proc. section 1008, which restricts motions for reconsideration and renewals of previously denied motions, is rejected; and 3) to the extent a literal application of section 1008 might conflict with the provisions of section 473(b), the latter must prevail.

[11/05] Perlan Therapeutics, Inc. v. Sup. Ct.
In plaintiff's case against the defendant for misappropriation of its trade secrets of an anti-viral protein based therapeutic used as a daily nasal spray for the prevention and treatment of the common cold, plaintiff's petition for a writ of mandate to compel the trial court to accept plaintiff's trade secret identification statement as sufficient and to allow it to commence discovery is denied where: 1) the trial court applied the correct legal standard to plaintiff's trade secret identification statement; and 2) there was a basis in the record to support the court's conclusion that the statement was not reasonably particular under the circumstances presented.

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