Filewrapper® | A patent, trademark, and copyright law blog by MVS - Marking (patent)

Federal Circuit decisions address false marking statute in Solo Cup and Brooks Brothers cases

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 10:34:00-0500

The Federal Circuit continues to address false marking cases. The court's recent decisions stress how important it is for patentees to monitor and update their labeling and other marking activities, particularly as patents expire.

In June, the court affirmed a summary judgment decision in favor of Solo Cup related to the company's practice of marking patents on beverage cup lids, and addressed whether each decision to mark or each article falsely marked is an act of false marking under the statute. In August, the court addressed the issue of who has standing to bring a false marking case, reversing a district court's finding of lack of standing in a false marking case brought against Brooks Brothers.

The Solo Cup case demonstrates the potential damage awards against companies that sell numerous products can be very large. However, the court created a higher bar for plaintiffs seeking to cash in on the false marking statute and demonstrates the importance for a defendant to be able to show good faith actions to overcome any presumption of intent to deceive the public.

The Brooks Brothers case provides a lesson on standing under 35 U.S.C. § 292. The Federal Circuit held a plaintiff has standing as a result of sufficiently alleging an injury in fact to the U.S. that was caused by Brooks Brothers' false marking of its bow ties, that may be redressed with the statutory fine created by § 292. This removes a potential barrier to false marking suits being filed in the first instance.

More detail of these two cases after the jump.

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False marking applies on a per article basis, not a per decision to mark basis

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:06:00-0500

In Forest Group v. Bon Tool Co., the Federal Circuit held that the false marking statute applies on a per article basis, rather than on a per decision to mark basis. The Federal Circuit reversed the district court, which had imposed a fine of $500 for a single decision to falsely mark a shipment of stilts as patented when they were not patented, and instructed the district court to recalculate the fine based on the total number of stilts that were falsely marked.

More details of Forest Group v. Bon Tool Co. after the jump.

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Reliance on initial expert for rebuttal sufficient to defeat summary judgment

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 09:50:00-0500

In a decision Tuesday, the Federal Circuit reversed grants of summary judgment in favor of both parties. The defendant was granted summary judgment of noninfringement, and the plaintiff (and counterclaim defendant) was granted summary judgment on the grounds of no marking under 35 U.S.C. § 287. Both parties appealed.

The Federal Circuit determined there was a genuine issue of fact regarding infringement under the doctrine of equivalents of the plaintiff's patent. Only one element of the claim was disputed, and the plaintiff's expert provided a detailed analysis under the function-way-result test. In response, the defendant's expert testified there were two additional functions of the element in the accused device. In reply, the plaintiff's expert referred to his previous analysis without explicitly rebutting the defendant's expert's claims. The Federal Circuit stated the plaintiff's "decision to refer to the evidence already before the court should not be fatal," and held there was sufficient evidence to generate a question of fact on the issue of infringement. Accordingly, the court reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment on this issue.

Regarding the marking issue, the Federal Circuit noted the defendant only asserted infringement of method claims in its counterclaim. As such, the Federal Circuit held it was bound by its decision in Hanson v. Alpine Valley Ski Area, Inc., which held that marking is not required when only method claims are asserted in a case. As such, any failure to mark was irrelevant to the defendant's counterclaims of infringement, and the district court's summary judgment on this issue was reversed as well.

More detail of Crown Packaging Tech., Inc. v. Rexam Beverage Can Co. after the jump.

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