Opinion ID: 381274
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: whether the district court, committed procedural error

Text: 23 IN TREATING CHEMIDUS' MOTION TO STRIKE THE MISUSE CLAIM AS A MOTION FOR PARTIAL JUDGMENT 24 UNDER RULE 54(b). 25 Chemidus argues that the District Court committed procedural error in treating Chemidus' motion to strike Robintech's patent misuse claim as a motion for partial judgment on the misuse issue under Rule 54(b). Chemidus submits that partial judgment on this claim was procedurally improper because Chemidus never had its day in court on this issue. Because the trial judge insisted upon deciding the misuse issue on his own suggestion as a matter of summary judgment after Chemidus made only a motion to strike, Chemidus claims it never got a fair chance to present full evidence on the merits on the misuse issue. Moreover, Chemidus argues that at trial, the judge opposed its development of defenses against the misuse claim. 26 In addition, Chemidus argues that partial judgment was procedurally defective because its motion to strike was submitted only to show that Robintech had not exercised its burden of proof on the misuse issue. Neither party, says Chemidus, asked the trial judge to consider the misuse issue as a matter of summary judgment. Chemidus states that under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56, a trial judge must ascertain what material facts are not in controversy or conflict when he decides an issue on summary judgment. This, says Chemidus, the trial judge failed to do. 27 After thorough consideration of Chemidus' claim that the District Court erred procedurally by treating Chemidus' motion to strike as a motion for partial judgment, we deny Chemidus' claim. 28 As to Chemidus' first argument that it never had its day in court on the misuse issue, our perusal of the pre-trial documents and trial transcript compels us to conclude that Chemidus did, indeed, have a chance to submit evidence on the misuse before the District Judge made his decision: (1) whether clause 1(d) of the license agreement constituted patent misuse first surfaced as an issue before the District Court in the Pre-Trial Order of November 30, 1977; thus, under Fed.R.Civ.P. 16, the issue of patent misuse was properly before the District Court and the parties at that time; (2) the trial transcript indicates at pages 336-339 that counsel for Robintech, on his cross-examination of Mr. John Morris Bunge, sought to establish its claim that clause 1(d) did constitute patent misuse, whereupon, counsel for Chemidus, on redirect of Mr. Bunge, failed to introduce any evidence which would rebut Robintech's cross-examination; and (3) the trial transcript at pages 236 and ff shows that the trial judge did say that the license agreement spoke for itself and evidence was inadmissible to explain it, but he then apparently admitted the evidence that Chemidus offered, over the objection of Robintech's counsel, so if anyone had an appealable issue, it was Robintech. 29 Chemidus bases its second argument for procedural error on several related points: that its motion to strike was submitted only to show that Robintech had not sustained its burden of proof on the misuse issue; that no one had asked the trial judge to consider this issue as a matter of summary judgment and that when he did so, the trial judge failed to ascertain what material facts were not in controversy under Fed.R.Civ.P. 56. 30 For the following reasons, we disagree with Chemidus on all points. 31 The order of March 22, 1978, does indeed say it treats the motion of defendant as a motion for partial summary judgment. That is at the start of several pages of discussion. It appears to be an inadvertence. The preconditions of Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 had not been met. There is no finding and express direction as Rule 54(b) requires. At the end, the bottom line, all he does is to deny the motion. He says the consideration of appropriate remedies will be deferred until the remaining issues are resolved. That the trial court did not consider it had adjudicated the issue of patent misuse is shown by the fact that it addresses that issue again in its ultimate conclusions of law, 450 F.Supp. at 834, Joint Appendix, Part A at 100. We think the trial judge meant to say that it would be tantamount to a partial judgment if he struck the patent misuse defense, which he did not do. It would not have been possible to do this without making a law of the case determination that would have been fatal to the patent misuse contention. Of course this is often true. Interlocutory decisions on motions, or even on the admission or exclusion of evidence, often tell the parties who has won and who has lost, but this does not make them judgments. The trial court simply denied the motion and the question whether it had entered a partial summary judgment would be presented only if the motion had been granted. Under Rule 54(b), the question was not closed and the decision remained subject to revision. Thus Chemidus addresses an imaginary issue. 32 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 54(b) reads as follows: 33 Judgment Upon Multiple Claims or Involving Multiple Parties. When more than one claim for relief is presented in an action, whether as a claim, counterclaim, cross-claim, or third-party claim, or when multiple parties are involved, the court may direct the entry of a final judgment as to one or more but fewer than all of the claims or parties only upon an express determination that there is no just reason for delay and upon an express direction for the entry of judgment. In the absence of such determination and direction, any order or other form of decision, however designated, which adjudicates fewer than all the claims or the rights and liabilities of fewer than all the parties shall not terminate the action as to any of the claims or parties, and the order or other form of decision is subject to revision at any time before the entry of judgment adjudicating all the claims and the rights and liabilities of all the parties. 34