Source: http://www.patenthawk.com/blog/2010/04/dogged.html
Timestamp: 2015-01-31 13:05:20
Document Index: 203458013

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 102', '§ 1', '§ 102', '§ 102', '§ 102', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 2001', '§ 2001', '§ 1', '§ 102', '§ 102', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 1']

Patent Prospector: Dogged
« Attention Deficit |
| Dun In »
Dr. Hannis Stoddard went to the animal shelter to retrieve his lost dog. Apparently taken by what he saw, "Dr. Stoddard made it his mission to implement a better system of dealing with the identification and processing of recovered animals." So he started Avid Identification Systems. As it always does in gentle creative souls, compassion led to patenting, and patenting led to litigation, as it always does with valuable technology. Good intentions pave the road to hell. And so Dr. Stoddard became ensnarled in a charge of inequitable conduct.
Avid Identification Systems v. The Crystal Import Corporation and Datamars (CAFC 2009-1216, -1254) precedential
At first content to simply sell relabelled OEM ID chips, Dr. Stoddard decided to go uptown technologically, hiring three engineers, and so Avid developed its own technology, resulting in
5,235,326.
Dr. Stoddard demonstrated some of Avid's technology at a U.S. Livestock Committee trade show in around April of 1990. In August of 1991, Avid filed for the '326 patent on a multi-mode encrypted chip and reader system, where the reader can read both unencrypted chips and Avid's encrypted chips. The inventors named on the application were Polish, Malm, and Beigel. Dr. Malm was also listed as the prosecuting attorney. A few days before the patent application was filed, the inventors assigned their rights to Avid. Dr. Stoddard signed the small entity status affidavit filed with the patent. Avid was also pursuing European patent rights for its encrypted chip and reader system during this time. The '326 patent issued in August of 1993.
Avid sued Datamars and others. Only Datamars stood up. The others settled. Avid won at trial, and lost thereafter. Following the trial, Datamars filed a motion to hold the patent unenforceable for inequitable conduct. The district court granted the motion, without trial, finding that Dr. Stoddard's trade show demonstration was material prior art under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) and that information regarding the demonstration was withheld from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO") with deceptive intent. Specifically, the district court found that Dr. Stoddard owed a duty of candor to the PTO.
The district court dismissed the unopposed motion for reconsideration of the inequitable conduct decision, finding that there was no case or controversy between the parties. The district court explained that the terms of the settlement agreement explicitly precluded Datamars from opposing the motion for reconsideration in any way, thus eliminating any adversity between the parties on all matters before the district court. The district court noted in its opinion that Avid argued, for the first time on reconsideration, that Dr. Stoddard did not have a duty of candor before the PTO.
Avid appealed. Datamars was mum.
The CAFC fretted first over "case and controversy."
This court must always determine for itself whether it has jurisdiction to hear the case before it, even when the parties do not raise or contest the issue. Special Devices, Inc. v. OEA, Inc., 269 F.3d 1340, 1342 (Fed. Cir. 2001); View Eng'g, Inc. v. Robotic Vision Sys., Inc., 115 F.3d 962, 963 (Fed. Cir. 1997).
A live controversy still exists because Datamars remained free under the settlement agreement to oppose this appeal on the merits. See, e.g., Kimberly-Clark Corp. v. Proctor & Gamble Distributing Co., 973 F.2d 911, 913-14 (Fed. Cir. 1992). That it chose not to submit a brief does not deprive this court of jurisdiction over the issues on appeal. Similarly, Datamars's agreement not to contest the procedural appropriateness of the appeal does not release this court from its legal obligation to determine procedural appropriateness sua sponte. See Johannsen v. Pay Less Drug Stores N.W., Inc., 918 F.2d 160, 161 (Fed. Cir. 1990). Both the merits and procedure are therefore issues before the court on appeal.
The dog hunts.
A party may show inequitable conduct by producing clear and convincing evidence of (1) material prior art, (2) knowledge chargeable to the patent applicant of prior art and its materiality, and (3) the applicant's failure to disclose the prior art to the PTO with intent to mislead. FMC Corp. v. Manitowoc Co., 835 F.2d 1411, 1415 (Fed. Cir. 1987). Information is material if there is a "substantial likelihood that a reasonable examiner would consider it important in deciding whether to allow the application to issue as a patent." J.P. Stevens & Co. v. Lex Tex Ltd., 747 F.2d 1553, 1559 (Fed. Cir. 1984).
This court reviews the ultimate determination of inequitable conduct under an abuse of discretion standard. Kingsdown Med. Consultants Ltd. v. Hollister Inc., 863 F.2d 867, 876 (Fed. Cir. 1988) (en banc in relevant part). The underlying findings on materiality and intent are reviewed for clear error and will not be disturbed on appeal in the absence of a "definite and firm conviction" that a mistake has been made. Id. at 872.
Interestingly, intent was not disputed, only materiality and duty of candor.
In the present appeal, Avid challenges the district court's finding that the trade show demonstration was material and that Dr. Stoddard had a duty of candor to disclose this information. Avid does not dispute on appeal that Dr. Stoddard withheld the information with specific intent to deceive the PTO for the purposes of obtaining a patent.
In evaluating materiality, this court typically refers to the definition provided in 37 C.F.R. § 1.56, by which the PTO promulgated the duty of disclosure. See Astrazeneca Pharm. LP v. Teva Pharm. USA, 583 F.3d 766, 773 (Fed. Cir. 2009). Information is material where a reasonable examiner would find it important to a determination of patentability. Id.
Materiality and potential prior art invalidity are not synonymous.
On appeal, Avid argues that the district court's finding of materiality was clearly erroneous because Dr. Stoddard's trade show demonstration related to a precursor product that did not contain all of the elements of the '326 patent claims. Avid's arguments against materiality focus on the fact that a jury was presented with the trade show information and still found the patent not invalid. Avid concludes that the jury must have found that the trade show demonstrations were not § 102(b) prior art. Such arguments, however, confuse the concepts of "material" and "invalidating." We have often held that a reasonable examiner may find a particular piece of information important to a determination of patentability, even if that piece of information does not actually invalidate the patent. See Praxair, Inc. v. ATMI, Inc., 543 F.3d 1306, 1314-15 (Fed. Cir. 2008) (holding that similar prior art that did not meet all of the patent's claim limitations was nonetheless material); Upjohn Co. v. Mova Pharm. Corp., 225 F.3d 1306, 1312 (Fed. Cir. 2000); Molins PLC v. Textron, Inc. 48 F.3d 1172, 1179-80 (Fed. Cir. 1995).
The district court found that sales demonstrations would be important to a determination of patentability under § 102(b). See 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) ("the invention was patented or described in a printed publication in this or a foreign country or in public use or on sale in this country, more than one year prior to the date of the application for patent in the United States"). The district court found that the precursor product, while not invalidating, reflected the closest prior art, and thus was highly material to patentability. We hold that the district court's analysis of materiality is not clearly erroneous.
PTO Rule 56, codified at 37 C.F.R. § 1.56, imposes on all individuals associated with the filing and prosecution of a patent application a duty of candor and good faith in dealing with the PTO during the period of examination of a patent application. 37 C.F.R. § 1.56(a). The duty of candor includes a duty to disclose to the PTO all information known to each individual that is material to the issue of patentability. Id. This information includes prior sale or public use of the invention one year or more before the filing date of the application. See 37 C.F.R. § 1.56(b). Thus, to have a duty to disclose information to the PTO, an individual must (1) be associated with the filing and prosecution of a patent application such that he owes a duty of candor to the PTO, and (2) know that the information is question is material. Id. § 1.56(a).
For purposes of identifying who owes a duty of candor to the PTO, Rule 56 defines "individual[s] associated with the filing or prosecution of a patent application" as (1) each named inventor, (2) each attorney or agent that prepares or prosecutes the application, and (3) every other person who is substantively involved in the preparation or prosecution of the application and who is associated with the inventor or assignee. 37 C.F.R. § 1.56(c). Individuals other than the attorney, agent, or inventor, who are "substantively involved in the preparation or prosecution of the application," may comply with their duty of candor by disclosing known material information to one of the attorney, agent, or inventor. 37 C.F.R. § 1.56(d).
If an individual who is substantively involved in the preparation or prosecution of an application fails to comply with his duty of candor, then that individual's misconduct is chargeable to the applicant for the patent, and the applicant's patent is held unenforceable. Molins, 48 F.3d at 1178; FMC Corp., 835 F.2d at 1415 n.8. In this case, it is undisputed that Dr. Stoddard is not an inventor of the '326 patent, or an attorney or agent who prepared the '326 patent application. Thus, whether Dr. Stoddard owed a duty of candor to the PTO, such that his misconduct would be chargeable to Avid (the applicant for the '326 patent), depends on whether he was an individual who was "substantively involved in the preparation or prosecution of the application" and "associated with the inventor or assignee." 37 C.F.R. § 1.56(c)(3).
What constitutes "substantive[] involve[ment] in the preparation or prosecution of the application," the issue on which this case turns, has not previously been addressed by this court. We read "substantively involved" to mean that the involvement relates to the content of the application or decisions related thereto, and that the involvement is not wholly administrative or secretarial in nature. See Manual of Patent Examining Procedures § 2001.01 (8th ed., rev. 2, May 2004).
In this case, the district court made the following findings of fact with respect to inequitable conduct:
1) that Avid was aware of the consequences of selling or offering to sell its reader and tag before filing the '326 patent application, 2) that Avid attempted to file the '326 patent application in advance of the 102(b) date, i.e. within one year after its first sales, but failed, and 3) that Avid intentionally withheld evidence of such sales from the PTO in an effort to deceive the PTO and secure allowance of the '326 patent.1
1 The district court's use of "Avid" in these findings is not entirely clear because only individuals, rather than corporations such as Avid, owe a duty of candor to the PTO. Exergen Corp. v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., 575 F.3d 1312, 1328 (Fed. Cir. 2009); Manual of Patent Examining Procedures § 2001.01 (explaining that "the duty applies only to individuals, not to organizations"). Accordingly, only individuals can breach that duty and give rise to a finding of inequitable conduct. Id. Although the district court opinion mentions a few different individuals, it appears that all of its inequitable conduct conclusions with respect to "Avid" refer to the conduct of Dr. Stoddard that is imputed to Avid. See Avid Identification Sys. Inc. v. Crystal Import Corp., No. 2:04-CV-183, slip op. at 8 (E.D. Tex. Sept. 28, 2007) ("Inequitable Conduct Order").
With respect to the first requirement of § 1.56(c)(3), requiring that the individual be substantively involved in the preparation or prosecution of the application, the district court found that Dr. Stoddard was "involved in all aspects of the company's operation, from marketing and sales to research and development." Inequitable Conduct Order at 8. Dr. Stoddard's involvement in "all aspects" of Avid, including its research and development, contributes to a reasonable inference that he was also involved in the preparation of the patent application relating to that research. That this fact would contribute to such an inference is especially reasonable here, since the '326 patent was directed to the system that fulfilled Dr. Stoddard's personal mission and the purpose for which his company was created.
There was also other evidence, "two communications related to Dr. Stoddard's substantive involvement in patent matters."
Given the nature and content of these communications, and the district court's findings with respect to Dr. Stoddard's role in the company, the inference that Dr. Stoddard was similarly involved in the '326 patent application is reasonable and the finding of substantive involvement is not clearly erroneous.
Dr. Stoddard damned himself.
Additionally, the district court determined that Dr. Stoddard's testimony at trial was not credible, his memory of facts was suspiciously selective, and he refused to acknowledge certain incontrovertible events.2 See Inequitable Conduct Order at 4. The district court's findings with respect to Dr. Stoddard's lack of credibility as a witness cast doubt on Dr. Stoddard's assertion that he did not understand the claimed technology and was not involved in the preparation of the '326 patent application.
2 For example, Dr. Stoddard was Avid's main fact witness on the issue of patent validity, and the district court explicitly discredited the portions of his testimony relevant to the validity of the '326 patent under § 102(b).
The CAFC sics the law on dogged doctor.
Our conclusion that the district court's duty of candor analysis was not clearly erroneous is reinforced by our own review of the entire record and relevant case law, which reveals sufficient reason to uphold the district court's judgment. Cf. Bruno Indep. Living Aids, Inc. v. Acorn Mobility Servs. Ltd., 394 F.3d 1348, 1354 (Fed. Cir. 2005) ("While the district court indeed provided little explicit support for its finding of intent, it is well established that, as an appellate tribunal, we review judgments, not opinions. We therefore focus our review on whether there is sufficient evidence in the record to sustain the judgment of intent to deceive the PTO." (citing Black v. Cutter Labs., 351 U.S. 292, 297 (1956); Stratoflex, Inc. v. Aeroquip Corp., 713 F.2d 1530, 1540 (Fed. Cir. 1983); Consol. Aluminum Corp. v. Foseco Int'l Ltd., 910 F.2d 804, 814 (Fed. Cir. 1990) ("An appellate court need not close its eyes to the record where . . . there is a way clearly open to affirm the district court's action."))).
Dr. Stoddard was personally responsible for the disputed prior art demonstrations. He was in contact with at least one of the inventors during the preparation of the '326 patent application regarding patent-related matters. He was also advised by that inventor to check with a patent attorney before disclosing information about Avid's technology to the public. He signed the small entity status affidavit shortly before the application was filed. These facts lend further support to the inference that Dr. Stoddard was substantively involved in preparations for filing the application, and demonstrate that Dr. Stoddard spoke for Avid in representations to the PTO.
Although Dr. Stoddard did not contribute enough to the patentable features of the claims to be considered an inventor, the functionality of the system described in the '326 patent was his idea. The inventors he hired were specifically instructed to reduce his idea to practice. Dr. Stoddard's inclusion on substantive communications related to the preparation of the European counterpart to the '326 patent application further support the more general conclusion that he was substantively involved in preparation of the patent application covering the system he conceived.
Under the terms of Rule 56, the PTO does not assign a duty of candor to persons not associated with a patent application, or to those involved only in a ministerial capacity. Such persons would not be in a position to appreciate that their conduct or knowledge might be relevant to the PTO.3
The district court did not clearly err in determining that Dr. Stoddard was not such an exempt person. Indeed, to accept Avid's argument that a person such as Dr. Stoddard owes no duty of candor would allow intentional deception by the types of people most likely to have knowledge of § 102(b) prior art, i.e., those on the commercial side of patented product development.
3 Our holding does not automatically extend the duty of candor to all individuals who contact one of the inventors or sign the small entity affidavit. Nor does our holding extend the duty generally to all individuals on the commercial side of product development. We simply hold that the district court may properly consider a variety of factors, such as an individual's position within the company, role in developing or marketing the patented idea, contact with the inventors or prosecutors, and representations to the PTO in deciding whether that individual is "substantively involved" within the meaning of § 1.56(c)(3) and thus owes a duty of candor to the PTO.
Judge Linn dissented, with enough rhetoric to prompt boisterous majority response.
The dissent errs by conflating Rule 56's requirements of substantive involvement and knowledge that the undisclosed information is material.
In other words, a finding that an individual was "substantively involved in the preparation or prosecution" of a patent application only determines that the individual owed a duty of candor to the PTO. Whether the individual involved in the alleged misconduct owed a duty of candor to the PTO is merely a threshold inquiry in the inequitable conduct analysis. Once a court finds that the individual had a duty of candor, the court must proceed to the dual prongs of materiality and deceptive intent, to determine whether that duty was violated. This subsequent analysis, in particular the deceptive intent inquiry, encompasses the concerns raised by the dissent. If an individual is unable to assess the materiality of the information at issue, then he would lack the deceptive intent required to find that he committed inequitable conduct.4 4 As occurred here, the district court may find the same evidence probative of whether a person was "substantively involved" and whether that person acted with deceptive intent. The inquiries, however, are distinct.
Judge Linn in dissent parses 37 C.F.R. § 1.56, Rule 56(c)(3), and how deep Dr. Stoddard was.
This case involves the application of 37 C.F.R. § 1.56 ("Rule 56"), a rule adopted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO") that places on defined individuals a duty of candor and good faith, including a duty of disclosure, in dealing with the PTO during the period of examination of a patent application. 37 C.F.R. § 1.56(a). These individuals include: (1) each named inventor; (2) each attorney or agent who prepares or prosecutes the application; and (3) "[e]very other person who is substantively involved in the preparation or prosecution of the application and who is associated with the inventor, with the assignee or with anyone to whom there is an obligation to assign the application." 37 C.F.R. § 1.56(c). Since Dr. Stoddard is not a named inventor or an attorney or agent associated with the filing of the '326 patent, the question presented in this case turns on the application of Rule 56(c)(3), which, as the majority recognizes, has never been explicitly addressed by this Court.
Rule 56(c)(3) lists two criteria that must be met before imposing a duty of disclosure on an individual. First, the individual must be "substantively involved in the preparation or prosecution of the application." 37 C.F.R. § 1.56(c)(3). Second, the individual must be "associated with the inventor, with the assignee or with anyone to whom there is an obligation to assign the application." Id. I agree with the majority that Dr. Stoddard was associated with the inventors of the '326 patent and that the second prong of Rule 56(c)(3) is met in this case. Where I part company with the majority is the conclusion that Dr. Stoddard was "substantively involved in the preparation or prosecution of the ['326 patent] application" as required by the first prong of Rule 56(c)(3).
We review a district court's determination of inequitable conduct under an abuse of discretion standard. Kingsdown Med. Consultants Ltd. v. Hollister Inc., 863 F.2d 867, 876 (Fed. Cir. 1988) (en banc). "We will not substitute our judgment for that of the trial court in relation to the discretionary ruling of inequitable conduct unless the appellant establishes that the ruling is based upon clearly erroneous findings of fact or a misapplication or misinterpretation of applicable law or that the ruling evidences a clear error of judgment on the part of the district court." Brasseler, U.S.A. I, L.P. v. Stryker Sales Corp., 267 F.3d 1370, 1379 (Fed. Cir. 2001). In my view, the district court both misapplied Rule 56(c)(3) and clearly erred in finding that Dr. Stoddard was "substantively involved in the preparation or prosecution of the application." Accordingly, I would reverse the determination that the '326 patent is unenforceable due to inequitable conduct.
The majority also ascribes significance to the fact that Dr. Stoddard was personally responsible for certain prior art demonstrations. Majority Op. at 14. However, this fact does not contribute to a finding that Dr. Stoddard was substantively involved in the patent application.
[N]one of the individual pieces of evidence the majority cites as the basis for this finding--Dr. Stoddard's role in the company, the two memos regarding patent prosecution, the small entity status affidavit, Dr. Stoddard's involvement in the product demonstrations, or Dr. Stoddard's lack of credibility at trial--show that Dr. Stoddard was even peripherally involved with the actual application at issue. Simply combining the evidence does not change the fact that there is nothing in the record showing that Dr. Stoddard had anything at all to do with the application for the '326 patent.
Quite a close call here, which is unusual, because inequitable conduct cases are typically clear-cut.
Posted by Patent Hawk at April 28, 2010 9:51 AM
Avid may also join Therasens for en banc review by the Federal Circuit. The issue of who owes the "duty" is that big, and in Avid, is being applied pretty high up the corporate "food chain."
Posted by: EG at April 29, 2010 3:46 AM