District of Massachusetts IP Blog

Another Claim Construction in PhosLo GelCaps Case

Fresenius Medical Care has sued various competitors for infringement of Patent Nos. 6,875,445 and 6,576,665 relating to drugs used to treat renal failure.  In a previous decision involving the case against Paddock Labs. and Amneal Pharm., Judge Stearns construed claim terms from the subject patents.  He has done so again in the case against Lupin and Zydus.  Unsurprisingly, Judge Stearns did not reconstrue previously addressed claim terms.  Instead he focused on terms such as “compression”, “caplet”, “capsule”, “optimizing” and other dosage delivering terms.  The opinion may be worthwhile reading for those who frequently litigate in the pharma space.

Fresenius Medical Care Holdings, Inc. v. Lupin Ltd., 10-11856-RGS (D. Mass. June 11, 2012)

Immitation Is The Sincerest Form of…BRAINS!

Wimpy Kid, Inc. (Plainville, MA) has sued Antarctic Press, Inc. (San Antonio, TX) for trademark infringement and related claims.  Plaintiff publishes the widely successful Diary of A Wimpy Kid series.  Defendant published a book, Diary of A Zombie Kid, with a book cover design closely mirroring the plaintiff’s series: 

While one can certainly acknowledge the similarities, this statement from the complaint seems like an overstatement:  

Defendant’s infringing works are substantially similar to those of Plaintiff’s series and are obviously intended to confuse the public into believing that Defendant’s books are additions to such series.

I'm not sure anyone is going to think these are part of the same series.  Unless the Wimpy Kid books involve more brain eating than I am aware of. 

Wimpy Kid, Inc. v. Antarctic Press, Inc., 11-12265-RGS (D. Mass. Dec. 20, 2011)

IT Service Provider Worried About Mark

Business Systems Consultants, Inc. (Beverly, MA) has sued Trend Micro Incorporated (Cupertino, CA) and Dell, Inc.  (Round Rock, TX) for infringement of plaintiff’s WORRY-FREE IT trademark and related claims.  Plaintiff’s mark is registered for computer hardware, servers, and support services.  The defendants have partnered to offer computer services under the mark WORRY FREE. 

Business Systems Consultants, Inc. v. Trend Micro Incorporated, 11-12287-RGS (D. Mass. Dec. 22, 2011)

DataTern Adds To The List

DataTern (New York, NY) has added five new defendants to the illustrious list of companies named as infringers of Patent No. 6,101,502 for object oriented software.  Looks like Judge Stearns is ending up with these.

Datatern, Inc. v. Microstrategy, Incp., 11-12220-RGS (D. Mass. Dec. 14, 2011)

Datatern, Inc. v. Teradata Corp., 11-12223-RGS (D. Mass. Dec. 14, 2011)

Datatern, Inc. v. Informatica Corp., 11-12224-RGS (D. Mass. Dec. 14, 2011)

Datatern, Inc. v. Epicor Software Corp., 11-12225-RGS (D. Mass. Dec. 14, 2011)

Datatern, Inc. v. Premier, Inc., 11-12227-RGS (D. Mass. Dec. 14, 2011)

Former RE/MAX Agent Kicked Off the Balloon

RE/MAX, LLC (Denver, CO) has sued ZMAX Realty (Foxboro, MA) and its founder for infringement of the trademark RE/MAX.  After working for RE/MAX for a few years, the defendant started his own business under the offending name.   

RE/MAX, LLC v. Zanecchia, 11-12168-RGS (D. Mass. Dec. 8, 2011)

Fresenius Files ANDA Case Against InvaGen

Fresenius Medical Care Holdings, Inc. (Waltham, MA) has sued InvaGen Pharm., Inc. (Hauppauge, NY) for infringement of Patent No. 6,576,665 following an ANDA submitted by InvaGen. 

Fresenius Medical Care Holdings, Inc. v. InvaGen Pharm., Inc., 11-11645-RGS (D. Mass. Sep. 16, 2011)

Internal Disciplinary Documents Must Be Produced In Malpractice Case

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is suing Ropes & Gray, LLP and one of its former attorneys for malpractice related to the prosecution of several CSHL patent applications before the Patent Office.  Ropes refused to produce documents related to investigation and termination of the employee, claiming privilege / work product.  Judge Stearns partially disagreed, and ordered production of the materials generated between the date the potential malpractice was raised and the date Ropes discontinued representation of CSHL. 

Cold Spring Harbor Lab. v. Ropes & Gray, LLP, 11-10128-RGS (D. Mass. July 19, 2011)

Throwdown over MOTHER Trademarks

Motherwords, LLC (Andover, MA) has sued Kate Hopper, LLC (Minneapolis, MN) and its principle for infringement of the mark MOTHERWORDS related to a magazine and blog.  The complaint alleges that the defendant tried to register the mark MOTHER WORDS, was rejected by the PTO in favor of the plaintiff’s registration, but continued to use the mark anyway. 

Motherwords, LLC v. Hopper, 11-11223-RGS (D. Mass. July 12, 2011)

Patent Acquisition Turns Co-Defendants Against Each Other

Wrapsol, LLC (Canton, MA) has sued ZAGG, Inc. (Salt Lake City, UT) for false advertising, commercial disparagement, and tortious interference.  Both companies sell protective film for electronic devices.  Wrapsol sued over certain statements made by ZAGG in the marketplace and to current and potential customers.  This case stems from a patent infringement suit where Wrapsol and ZAGG were co-defendants.  (Mason v. Zagg, Inc., 10-06511-AHM-FFM (C.D. Cal.))  ZAGG settled with the plaintiff, ended up owning the patent, and became the plaintiff against Wrapsol.  ZAGG then paraded around the patent suit in an attempt to get Wrapsol’s customers to switch to ZAGG.

Then the day after filing this case Zagg sued Wrapsol for patent infringement in Utah.  (Zagg v. NLU Prods., 11-00517-PMW (D. Utah))

Wrapsol, LLC v. Zagg, Inc., 11-11006-RGS (D. Mass. June 6, 2011)

Becton Wins Again On Summary Judgment

Back in 2003 MBO sued Becton, Dickinson for infringement of Reissue Patent No. 36,885 directed to a safety syringe design.  Becton had won several District Court victories along the way, only to have them reversed (twice) by the Federal Circuit.  Once again, Becton has prevailed at the District Court.  Only time will tell if the decision holds up. 

Here’s a quick recap of the case history: