Public Threats Of Enforcement Don’t Establish DJ Jurisdiction

2008-1373 Impax Labs v. Medicis PharmaceuticalND/CA 08-0253 Impax appeals from Judge Maxine Chesney’s Order granting Medicis’s Motion to Dismiss Impax’s Declaratory Judgment Complaint. Medicis manufactures Solodyn®, a minocyclene extended release tablet used as an oral acne medicine, and is the assignee of 5,908,838, directed to the treatment of acne using an oral tetracycline antibiotic in [...]

Holy Roller–Case On “Godly Powers” Dismissed

2008-1350 Roller v. James Randi EducationalD/MN 07-cv-01296 Plaintiff Christopher Roller appeals from Judge John Tunheim’s Order dismissing his infringement case against all defendants. Roller has a patent application on "Godly Powers" which was published as 20070035812.  Roller alleges that the defendants conspired to prevent him from filing the lawsuit, to kill him, and to infringe [...]

In Brief: 2008-1140 ExcelStor Tech. v. Papst Licensing

Our regular readers know that we provide notice and case summaries of newly filed patent litigation appeals.  PATracer, however, is aimed at following these cases through the CAFC from filing to opinion.  So, as part of our mission, a new feature will be a follow-up post providing the parties’ respective "Summary of the Arguments" from [...]

Silicon Graphics v. ATI Is A Draw

2008-1334 Silicon Graphics v. ATI TechnologiesWD/WI 06-c-0611 ATI appeals from the judgments of Judge Barbara Crabb on the verdicts that Silicon Graphic’s  6,650,327 patent valid and enforceable.  The court had previously granted summary judgment of non-infringement to ATI on most of the asserted patent claims, and Silicon Graphics had voluntarily dismissed the rest.  Phillip Brooks [...]

Vehicle Navigation Patent Miss Its Mark

08-1259 Vehicle IP v. General MotorsWD/WI 07-CV-345 IP management companies have not fared well in Chief Judge Barbara Crabb’s courtroom lately.  Similar to her recent decision in Netcraft, Chief Judge Crabb  granted summary judgment of noninfringement in favor of Gem’s On Star and Horizon’s VIZ Navigator products. The dispute centered on Patent No. 6,535,743 and [...]

Black Gold, Texas Tea: Court Again Tosses DJ Action Despite Later Filed Infringement Case

2008-1244 Baker Hughes v. ReedHycalogD/UT 2:05-CV-0931 DJ plaintiff Baker Hughes appeals from Judge Ted Stewart’s order (again) granting ReedHycalog’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The parties are competitors in the manufacture of rotary drill bits used for subterranean drilling in the gas and oil industry.  These drill bits employ polycrystalline diamond [...]

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 [...]

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 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.  [...]

J&J Wins Race To Court And Gets DJ Cases Dismissed

2008-1198 Abbott Labs v. Johnson & Johnson D/DE 06-cv-613; 07-cv-259 Abbott appeals the dismissal of two of its declaratory judgment cases.  Johnson & Johnson (with Cordis, its subsidiary) own numerous patents related to drug-eluting coronary stents.  Abbott filed the 06-613 action seeking a declaration of invalidity and non-infringement.  In May and June 2007, several new, [...]