Opinion ID: 211143
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Pillowtex Litigation

Text: 5 In December 1994, Louisville filed suit against Pillowtex for infringement of the '322 patent by, inter alia, sale of its mattress pad model that used Xymid, LLC's 4059 skirt material (the 4059 mattress pad). In October 1997, the district court construed certain claim limitations of the '322 patent and granted summary judgment of noninfringement with respect to the 4059 mattress pad. In March 1998, the parties reached a settlement as to the Pillowtex mattress pad models accused of infringing Louisville's patents, including the 4059 mattress pad and the '322 patent. Under the settlement agreement, Pillowtex paid Louisville a sum of money and took a license to numerous of its patents, including the '322 patent. Pillowtex also agreed to mark the 4059 mattress pad as licensed under Louisville's patents, including the '322 patent. In April 1998, on the parties' joint motion, the court entered a final judgment dismissing with prejudice all claims that were or could have been asserted except Louisville's claims relating to the 4059 mattress pad. With respect to the 4059 mattress pad, the court entered final judgment that that mattress pad did not infringe, either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents, claims 1, 2, 4, 8, 10-13, 16, 18, 28, 34-37, 41, and 42 of the '322 patent. 6 After the parties' settlement, Pillowtex filed for bankruptcy in 2000 and again in 2003, and, according to Louisville, Pillowtex was dissolved in 2003. 1 One ramification of Pillowtex's dissolution was that Xymid, a spin-off of a DuPont division with whom Pillowtex originally had an exclusive supply agreement and who is currently the exclusive manufacturer of the 4059 mattress pad skirt material, was no longer bound by its exclusive supply agreement with Pillowtex. Free from that agreement, Louisville asserts, Xymid began selling its 4059 mattress pad skirt material to other manufacturers of mattress pads, including Perfect Fit and National Sleep Products (NSP).