judge brinkema

Patent Reexams: A Patent Holder's Headache Cured by Contract?

August 05, 2011 13:51

Can a contract between private parties prevent the PTO from proceeding with a patent reexamination? Callaway Golf thought so when it signed a settlement agreement with a competitor in the golf ball industry. In Callaway Golf Co. v. Kappos, Case No 1:11CV266, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS...

Judge Brinkema Allows Inequitable Conduct Claims to Go to Trial

Dabney Carr
April 13, 2011 22:14

After Exergen v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 575 F.3d 1312 (Fed. Cir. 2009) (summarized here), it appeared that claims of inequitable conduct would fail at the pleading stage because of the requirements of a specific “who, what, when, where and how” of the alleged misrepresentation and...

Judge Brinkema Grants Summary Judgment to Defendants in TecSec v. IBM Patent Case

Dabney Carr
March 31, 2011 13:58

We previously blogged about the massive patent infringement case TecSec filed against thirteen separate defendant groups here, here and here. After more than a year of procedural wrangling, Judge Brinkema brought the first phase of the case to an abrupt end by awarding summary judgment to IBM on...

Virginia is for Virginians

February 03, 2011 04:22

A patent infringement suit against Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Photobucket is headed to California, after the defendants prevailed on their motion to transfer venue.  The opinion reinforces a trend against giving choice of forum deference to patent holding companies, particularly if those...

Judge Brinkema Denies Motions for Summary Judgment of Inequitable Conduct and Invalidity in TecSec v. IBM

Dabney Carr
January 31, 2011 15:26

As we posted here and here, the case of TecSec v. IBM et al., Case No. 1:10CV115 (E.D.Va.), pending before Judge Brinkema, is one of the most complex patents suits ever filed in the Eastern District of Virginia. TecSec asserted 11 patents involving 380 claims against thirteen unrelated groups...