Opinion ID: 211655
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Identity of Material Shipped to Ortho

Text: 32 We next examine whether the sample that Enzo transferred to Ortho in December 1984 pursuant to the 1982 agreement was in fact the same material that Enzo deposited as ATCC 53411. Although the agreement lacked any explicit references to the '659 patent, the GC155 probe, or ATCC 53411, the district court concluded that Gen-Probe established that Enzo shipped GC155 pursuant to its obligations under that agreement, that GC155 was the same material as ATCC 53411, which was cited in the patent to support the patent's validity, and consequently that paragraph 2.14's offer for sale relates to an embodiment of the '659 patent. 33 Enzo argues that the polynucleotide allegedly sold or offered for sale before the critical date was not the subject matter of the '659 claims. It asserts that the polynucleotide delivered to Ortho consisted of approximately 700 base pairs, according to shipping documents and laboratory notebooks, and thus differed from ATCC 53411, which contained 840 base pairs. Enzo also alleges that the district court erred as a matter of law by shifting the burden of production of evidence to Enzo to prove that the sample sent to Ortho was not the same as ATCC 53411, when it was Gen-Probe who bore the burden of establishing that there was a commercial sale of an embodiment of the claims of the '659 patent before the critical date. 34 In reply, Gen-Probe asserts that there is no real dispute that the Enzo-Ortho agreement related to the claimed invention. To link the patent to the agreement, and thus to the invalidating commercial offer for sale, Gen-Probe argues that the '659 patent cites ATCC 53411 as a preferred embodiment, and that the GC155 probe and the probe deposited in the ATCC as sample 53411 are undisputedly identical. As for whether it was GC155 that Enzo delivered in December 1984 to Ortho pursuant to the 1982 agreement, Gen-Probe relies on laboratory notebooks and shipping documents accompanying the transferred material, as well as the testimony of Enzo's own scientists, to prove that the material was in fact GC155. The district court's burden-shifting, Gen-Probe argues, was proper because, following Gen-Probe's presentation of clear and convincing evidence that the probe delivered to Ortho was GC155, Enzo presented no evidence that the probe was not GC155, and that Enzo's mere arguments contesting the identity of the shipped material are insufficient to satisfy its burden of coming forward with evidence, so that summary judgment was proper. 35 We agree with the district court that there was no genuine issue of material fact as to whether the material that Enzo shipped to Ortho in December 1984 was GC155. Gen-Probe refers to several documents, including contemporaneous documents such as the shipping invoice and accompanying letters, that overwhelmingly refer to the material as GC155 or simply 155. For example, the district court relied on a letter from Dr. Engelhardt, an Enzo employee, to his counterpart at Ortho stating that a probe specific to gonorrhea was being delivered pursuant to the 1982 agreement. It also cited laboratory notebooks describing a 155 insert as follows: Works very nicely. Very clean. Sent three micrograms to Raritan [location of Ortho's New Jersey facilities]. The evidence also included Enzo quarterly reports from early 1984 that described Enzo's contractual obligation to deliver a GC probe to Ortho and that indicated that the most promising candidate was one designated 155-1. In short, Gen-Probe put forth a great deal of evidence before the district court to establish that Enzo transferred GC155 to Ortho in satisfaction of the 1982 agreement. 36 Under Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, 477 U.S. 242, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986), Enzo had the burden of showing that there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether GC155 was shipped to Ortho. Id. at 250, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (Rule 56(e) provides that, when a properly supported motion for summary judgment is made, the adverse party `must set forth specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.' (footnote omitted)). We agree with the district court that Enzo's argument that the material was not GC155 because of an alleged discrepancy in the length of the base pairs failed to meet that burden. Since GC155 was transferred pursuant to the agreement, and that material has been shown to be the same as the ATCC deposit made to support the '659 patent, there was no genuine issue of material fact disputing that the subject matter of the agreement was the same as that of the patent. 37 We also reject Enzo's contention that the district court erred by shifting the burden of production to Enzo, the non-movant, and by calling upon Enzo to come forward with evidence to show that the question of the distinction between 700 and 840 base pairs was a genuine issue of material fact sufficient to defeat summary judgment. The Supreme Court stated in Anderson that in ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the judge must view the evidence presented through the prism of the substantive evidentiary burden. 477 U.S. at 254, 106 S.Ct. 2505. Although the ultimate burden of proof remained on Gen-Probe, once it came forward with evidence to establish that the material shipped to Ortho in December 1984 was GC155, it was proper for the district court to shift the burden of production of evidence to refute Gen-Probe's evidence to Enzo. While it is true that a court must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party, Enzo presented no evidence to the district court disputing the identity of the Ortho delivery. Instead, the court was faced only with Enzo's arguments and perhaps a suggestion of what Enzo might present at trial; that alone is insufficient to meet its burden of production. Attorney argument is no substitute for evidence. Although, as Enzo correctly stated at oral argument, a nonmoving party can defeat a motion for summary judgment by explaining why a party (Gen-Probe) with the burden of proof cannot meet its summary judgment standard, Enzo is mistaken that Gen-Probe has not met that hurdle. Once the district court determined that Gen-Probe satisfied its burden, and we agree that it did, it was incumbent upon Enzo, as the nonmoving party, to produce some evidence refuting Gen-Probe's claim. We find no error in the district court's reasoning, and we agree that Enzo failed to establish the existence of a genuine issue of material fact sufficient to avoid summary judgment.