Jury & Judge Put the (Spinal) Screws to Medtronic

2008-1240 Depuy Spine v. Medtronic SofamorD/MA  01-CV-10165
Defendant Medtronic appeals from final judgment and Judge Edward Harrington’s denial of a bevy of motions including JMOL.  Depuy et al asserted 5,207,678 directed to pedicle screws and receiver members used in spinal surgeries.  In an earlier appeal to the CAFC, certain claim construction was determined, some of the [...]

Card Shuffler Draw Beats Shuffle Master

2008-1239 Shuffle Master v. VendingdataD/NV 2:04-cv-01373
Plaintiff Shuffle Master appeals Judge Brian E. Sandoval’s order granting summary judgment of non-infringement to Vendingdata on the automatic card shuffling patent 6,655,684.  The key term for the analysis involved "forming at least one set of cards within the apparatus from at least one deck of playing cards."
The court construed [...]

Prior Settlement Bars DJ Action Despite Threat to Customers

2008-1233 WS Packaging v. Global CommerceED/WI 06-cv-674
DJ plaintiff WS appeals from Judge William Griesbach’s orders granting summary judgment to defendant.  WS filed a DJ action seeking a declaration of noninfringement regarding Global’s 6,406,062 patent.  The parties previously litigated, and settled with a mutual covenant not to sue:
The parties agree not to institute any action, proceeding [...]

Weed Control DJ Premature

2008-1232 Monsanto v. Syngenta CropED/MO 4:07-cv-543
Monsanto appeals from Judge Carol Jackson’s Order dismissing its declaratory judgment action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim.  Syngenta owns 6,586,367 directed to a weed-control process that combines a phospho-herbicide with another group of herbicides, including metolachlor.  Monsanto sells a phospho-herbicide  (ROUNDUP) and had [...]

Low Calorie Fiber Gel Does Not Infringe No Calorie Claims

2008-1231 Z Trim v. Fiberstar, Inc.WD/WI 3:07-cv-00161
Plaintiff Z Trim appeals from Judge Barbara Crabb’s order granting defendants summary judgment of non-infringement.  Plaintiffs assert 5,766,662 directed to dietary fiber gels for reduced calorie foods.  All of the asserted claims require, in part, a:
noncaloric, gellable product consisting essentially of cellulosic, physically  disrupted cellular debris.

The court had previously [...]

Court Won’t Interpret Ambiguous Protective Order

2008-1230 Smithkline Beecham v. SynthonMD/NC 1:00-CV-01179
Synthon appeals Mag. Judge Eliason’s order denying its motion to allow its in-house counsel to see the case’s confidential documents.   The parties  litigated a patent case many years ago, and entered into a  May 2001 Joint Stipulated Protective Order under which certain specified in-house counsel could see the file.  [...]

Animal Carcasses + Ex Employee=Infringement and Theft of Trade Secrets

2008-1228 Ecolab, Inc. v. FMC Corp.D/MN 05-cv-831
Plaintiff Ecolab appeals from Judge James Rosenbaum’s denial of several post-trial motions following a split jury verdict.  Ecolab sued FMC on several patents related to the treatment of animal carcasses and meat.  The jury found that FMC infringed several valid claims, did not infringe several claims, and that several [...]

Substantial Question of Claim Construction Dooms Preliminary Injunction

2008-1225 Novo Nordisk v. Sanofi-AventisD/NJ 07-cv-3206
Novo appeals from Judge Mary Cooper’s Order denying its Motion for Preliminary Injunction.  Novo asserts 7,241,278 against Sanofi, a patent related to an insulin “pen” for injecting set doses of medicine from a cartridge.  Novo generally describes the asserted claims as including a “novel means of coupling and de-coupling a [...]

Second Appeal of Permanent Injunction Turning Case into a Marathon

2008-1222 MPT v. Marathon LabelsND/OH 1:04-cv-2357
Defendant Marathon Labels appeals from Judge Patricia Gaughan’s order modifying a permanent injunction following the Federal Circuit’s decision from December 2007 in 2007-1183.  The Federal Circuit affirmed a jury verdict that defendants contributed to infringement and affirmed the court’s JMOL on willfulness.  The panel reversed in part and remanded regarding [...]

Court Shelves Patent and Trade Secret Claims

2008-1219 Putnam v. Henkel ConsumerND/GA 1:05-cv-2011
Plaintiffs Michael Putnam and WEP Enterprises appeal Judge Beverly Martin’s grant of summary judgments and a directed verdict to Henkel Consumer (fka Manco).  Plaintiffs own 5,697,302 directed to shelf liners and trade secrets related to their ShelfCover brand.  Henkel is a competitor.  After failed discussions between the two, both came [...]