Judge Kinkeade Issues Markman Opinion in Galderma v. Actavis

Posted on May 14, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On April 17, 2014, Judge Kinkeade issued a 66 page Markman decision (available here) in Galderma v. Actavis. The opinion construed various terms in the eight patents in suit.

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Judge Means Issues Claim Construction Order in Williams-Pyro v. Warren Watts Technology

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On March 10, 2014, Judge Means issued an Order on Claim Construction (available here) in the Williams-Pyro v. Warren Watts Technology case. The Order has a good overview of the law of claim construction, and construes several limitations of the asserted claims.

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Judge Lynn Confirms Arbitration Award

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On February 24, 2014, Judge Lynn issued an Order (available here) in the The Decapolis Group v. Mangesh Energy Case. Judge Lynn determined that the arbitration award at issue would be confirmed, in the process denying defendants’ motion to dismiss. Defendants had argued that, because they had fully complied with the arbitration award, there was no case or controversy. Judge Lynn disagreed, finding that it was proper for the court to confirm the award under the parties’ contract and the Federal Arbitration Act. Thus, Article 3 of the Constitution was satisfied, and the Court had jurisdiction to confirm the award.

Judge Lynn also granted the Defendant’s motion to seal. Although there is a presumption that judicial records are to be kept open to the public, the public’s right to access court records is not absolute, and district courts have the discretion to seal documents if the interest favoring nondisclosure outweighs the presumption in favor of the public’s common-law right of access. Judge Lynn found that the award contained extensive findings of fact and conclusions of law, and that any public interest in the award is minimal and counterbalanced by the interest in confidentiality expressed in the parties’ agreement.

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Chief Judge Fitzwater Grants Summary Judgment In-Part To Choice Hotels

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On February 19, 2014, Chief Judge Fitzwater issued a detailed opinion (available here) that granted plaintiff Choice Hotels’ motion for summary judgment in-part. In particular, the Court granted summary judgment on all of Choice Hotels’ liability claims, but denied summary judgment as to remedies.

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Judge Boyle Dismisses Putative Class Action Brought By Consumers Against U.S. Hotel Chains and Online Travel Agencies

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On February 18, 2014, Judge Boyle issued a decision (available here) that granted Defendants’ motion to dismiss a putative class action brought by consumers claiming they paid inflated prices on hotel rooms booked online. Judge Boyle found that the Complaint failed to plausible allege “(1) a price-fixing conspiracy for the three antitrust law claims and (2) proximate causation for the consumer protection law claim.” Accordingly, she dismissed the complaint without prejudice.

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Judge Cummings Issues Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law In Hunn v. Dan Wilson Homes

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On January 29, 2014, Judge Cummings issued an Order (available here) resolving the parties’ claims and defenses in Hunn v. Dan Wilson Homes. Among other things, Judge Cummings found in favor of Defendants on Plaintiff’s copyright infringement claim, such that Defendants were entitled to the award of reasonable attorneys’ fees in connection with defending against such claims.

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Judge Solis Grants Motions to Consolidate in StoneEage Cases

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On January 28, 2014, Judge Solis granted plaintiffs’ motion to consolidate in the StoneEagle cases (Order available here). Judge Solis found that both suits were before the same court and involve similar parties. The suits also were “riddled with factual overlaps that touch every party no matter which case someone happens finds his name affixed on the caption.” Similarly, “[r]eviewing the causes of action asserted, both cases involve the same trade secrets and the same patents as well as secondary liability claims such as conspiracy and aiding and abetting which directly connect all Defendants.” As such, Judge Solis granted the plaintiffs’ motions to consolidate.

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Chief Judge Fitzwater Denies Motion for Summary Judgment in B-50.com, LLC v. InfoSync Services

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On January 27, 2014, Chief Judge Fitzwater issued an Order (available here) denying the defendant’s motion for partial summary judgment regarding contributory infringement and inducement of the patent in suit.

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Magistrate Judge Horan Grants Transfer Request In Strukmyer Case

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Steven Callahan

On January 6, 2014, Magistrate Judge Horan issued an Order (available here) that granted Defendants’ motion to transfer venue. In August 2013, Defendants had sued Strukmyer for, among other things, patent infringement. That case was brought in Nevada. One week later, Strukmyer filed the instant suit. Defendants then sought transfer pursuant to the first-to-file rule. Judge Horan ultimately found that the instant case and the earlier-filed Nevada case overlap on the substantive issues, and that the “anticipatory” declaratory judgment exception did not apply. Accordingly, the transfer request was granted.

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Supreme Court Unanimously Reverses Federal Circuit in Highmark v. Allcare

Posted on April 30, 2014 by Steven Callahan

Yesterday was not a good day for the Federal Circuit at the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court, in addition to unanimously reversing the Federal Circuit in Octane v. Icon (see post here), also unanimously reversed the Federal Circuit in Highmark v. Allcare (opinion here). In Highmark, the Federal Circuit had ruled that decisions under Section 285 of the Patent Act—which provides that “[t]he court in exceptional cases may award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party”—must be reviewed de novo on appeal. The Supreme Court reversed, finding that “an appellate court should review all aspects of a district court’s § 285 determination for abuse of discretion.” (Highmark originated before Judge Means at the district court level.)

The Supreme Court did note, however, that “[t]he abuse-of-discretion standard does not preclude an appellate court’s correction of a district court’s legal or factual error: A district court would necessarily abuse its discretion if it based its ruling on an erroneous view of the law or on a clearly erroneous assessment of the evidence.”

The practical application of this decision is that it will now be harder for a district court’s exceptional case finding to be reversed on appeal.

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