Opinion ID: 208003
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Deceptive Intent

Text: Intent to deceive is an independent element of inequitable conduct, and must be independently established by clear and convincing evidence. Star Scientific, 537 F.3d at 1365; Cargill, 476 F.3d at 1364; see Molins PLC v. Textron, Inc., 48 F.3d 1172, 1181 (Fed.Cir.1995) ([C]lear and convincing evidence must prove that an applicant had the specific intent to accomplish an act that the applicant ought not to have performed, viz., misleading or deceiving the PTO. In a case involving nondisclosure of information, clear and convincing evidence must show that the applicant made a deliberate decision to withhold a known material reference.); Allen Organ Co. v. Kimball Int'l, Inc., 839 F.2d 1556, 1567 (Fed.Cir.1988) ([m]ateriality does not presume intent, which is a separate and essential component of inequitable conduct). Appellants state that they have shown a high degree of materiality, and that they therefore need a proportionally lesser showing of intent to deceive to establish the requisite threshold level of intent. That is incorrect. Evidence of mistake or negligence, even gross negligence, is not sufficient to support inequitable conduct in patent prosecution. Kingsdown, 863 F.2d at 876. To establish the requisite deceptive intent, the involved conduct, viewed in light of all the evidence, including evidence indicative of good faith, must indicate sufficient culpability to require a finding of intent to deceive. Id. While the court must, as the final step, weigh and balance the findings of materiality and intent, this presupposes that a threshold level of both of these elements has already been established by clear and convincing evidence. See Manville Sales Corp. v. Paramount Systems, Inc., 917 F.2d 544, 551 (Fed.Cir.1990) (Inequitable conduct requires proof by clear and convincing evidence. A threshold showing of both materiality and intent to mislead or deceive must be first established, and then those fact-findings are balanced to make the determination whether `the scales tilt to a conclusion that inequitable conduct occurred.'). The only evidence of intent offered by the Appellants is AstraZeneca's internal knowledge of certain compounds of this structural class that were atypical, without including this information in the IDS. The Appellants argue that it is irrelevant that the omitted compounds are not the closest structural analogs, and irrelevant that the patent examiner asked for comparative data for other, closer compounds. The Appellants offer no evidence or suggestion of deceptive intent, other than the fact that this information was not provided. The law is clear that inequitable conduct requires not intent to withhold, but rather intent to deceive. Intent to deceive cannot be inferred simply from the decision to withhold [information] where the reasons given for the withholding are plausible. Dayco Products, Inc. v. Total Containment, Inc., 329 F.3d 1358, 1367 (Fed.Cir.2003). As argued by Appellants, an applicant would not know how much of its research effort must be filed with the PTO, although of no interest to the examiner, or run the risk of accusation of wrongdoing no matter where the line is drawn. As we have discussed, the omitted test data were not material because the compounds were not the structurally closest compounds, whereas AstraZeneca and the examiner focused on the structurally closest compounds. Although the Appellants argue that this is an inadequate reason, no evidence of bad faith has been proffered concerning the omission of data for the less similar compounds, AstraZeneca presented plausible reasons for its presentation of arguments and data during the prosecution, and although the Appellants dispute AstraZeneca's reasoning, intentional withholding for the purpose of deceiving the examiner is unsupported by evidence sufficient to avert summary judgment. We reach the same conclusion as did the district court, that the Appellants have not provided evidence sufficient to establish the threshold facts of material withholding with the intent to deceive. The grant of summary judgment of no inequitable conduct is affirmed.