JMOL and new trial were denied in stent case
Robinson, J. Defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law of non-infringement and invalidity and motion for a new trial were denied.
The technology at issue involves stents used in the treatment of cardiovascular disease. A 9-day jury trial held between February 7 and 18, 2005 found the patents-in-suit to be valid and infringed. The Court granted defendants' JMOL motion that it does not infringe under DOE, and plaintiffs' motion that the patents are not invalid as anticipated. Defendants contested the Court’s claim construction of “undulating pattern” and objected that the jury was tainted by the Court’s “announcing the loser” of the claim construction dispute by incorporating the construction in the jury instructions. They further argued that the Court did not apply the proper weight to the specification, and that plaintiffs failed to demonstrate ownership. Because defendants did not challenge standing prior to trial, plaintiffs, who have an assignment, were not required to make a proffer during trial. With respect to obviousness, defendants' expert, Neil Saigal, identified limitation of patent claims in various prior art patents in various combinations, but defendants did not point to any motivation to combine these references. Sufficient evidence existed in the record to rebut the obviousness claim and defendants' motions were denied. Defendants moved for a new trial on the basis that testimony from a co-inventor of the prior art patent was precluded although it would have rebutted plaintiffs' one-sided “development” story. In addition, defendants argued that the court improperly precluded them from admitting the Court’s statements regarding a prior art reference in violation of law of the case doctrine. They claimed they were prejudiced by having to present their claim construction evidence to the jury prior to the Court’s construction at the close of evidence. These arguments were rejected and the motions denied.
A copy of the full opinion is available here.
