Opinion ID: 211515
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Joinder of Necessary Party

Text: 26 However, a further inquiry awaits us concerning whether the district court's dismissal was proper. Even though the lawsuit was properly brought in the name of the owner of the patent, we must still determine whether the action as brought by appellants included all necessary parties. For the same policy reasons that a patentee must be joined in any lawsuit involving his or her patent, there must be joinder of any exclusive licensee. See Independent Wireless Tel. Co. v. Radio Corp., 269 U.S. 459, 466, 46 S.Ct. 166, 70 L.Ed. 357 (1926) (stating that both the owner and the exclusive licensee are generally necessary parties in an action in equity). Appellants assert that all of the necessary parties to this action were parties to the original complaint since Contour was the patentee and Aspex was the exclusive licensee of the '747 patent. According to appellants, Aspex obtained an exclusive license through a prior implied or oral sublicense agreement with Chic that matured contemporaneously upon later execution of the written Contour/Chic agreement. Appellants contend that all of the rights that were conveyed to Chic by the Contour/Chic agreement were also passed on to Aspex. Even if Aspex had not acquired its exclusive license before the original complaint was filed, appellants argue that Aspex had acquired sufficient standing through the Chic/Aspex agreement, which was executed before the amended complaint was filed. 27 In its decision, the district court did not consider whether Aspex was an exclusive licensee with the right to sue, either through an implied license or the later Chic/Aspex agreement. The court determined only that Aspex was not an assignee of the '747 patent when the original complaint was filed. Once the court determined that Contour was not the patentee at the time the complaint was filed, the only way a dismissal could have been avoided was if Chic had transferred to Aspex all of its rights under the patent through a written agreement prior to the filing of the complaint, which the court found had not occurred. However, now that we have concluded that Contour was the effective patentee when the complaint was filed, whether Aspex or Chic was an exclusive licensee at that time is an issue that must be decided. If the license between Chic and Aspex was not effective at the time of the original complaint, then Chic was a necessary party and it has not been joined. If Aspex was an exclusive licensee at the proper time, then Chic was not a necessary party and Aspex was in fact a proper plaintiff. 28 However, we leave the question of Aspex's status for the district court to decide. As the district court has already recognized, determining whether an assignment or a license was granted involves different analyses. For example, an assignment must be in writing, while a license can be implied. Enzo, 134 F.3d at 1093. Determining whether there was an implied license between Chic and Aspex prior to the filing of the complaint may involve a factual determination. As an appellate court, we decline to undertake that inquiry in the first instance. We also leave it for the district court to determine whether Chic, if it was a necessary party to this action, could have been joined. Thus, we remand for the district court to determine whether all necessary parties to this action were joined, or could have been joined.