District of Massachusetts IP Blog

Claim Construction Amended; Judgment Not

In September 2010 Judge Woodlock entered of summary judgment of non-infringement to Gore, who was accused of infringing Millipore’s Patent No. 7,293,477 related to fluid sampling devices.  Millipore moved for reconsideration, which Judge Woodlock recently denied in part.  Judge Woodlock did alter the claim construction in one respect which took away one ground for summary judgment, but not all, and so the judgment stands.  And heads to the Federal Circuit due to the counterclaims being dismissed without prejudice. 

Millipore Corp. v. W.L. Gore & Assoc., Inc., 09-10765-DPW (D. Mass. Mar. 20, 2012)

Judge Zobel Named in Fishy Pro-Se Trademark Case

So here’s a first for me.  A federal judge has been named as a defendant in a pro-se trademark infringement case.  The plaintiff asserts that a number of corporations, attorneys, and yes, Judge Zobel, infringe his SEAFOOD TEMPTATIONS trademark.  While some specific allegations are made against the corporate defendants, the complaint doesn’t explain what the named attorneys or Judge Zobel are supposed to have done.  Which is a shame because I’d love to hear it. 

Fraser v. Gortons, Inc., 12-10479-DPW (D. Mass. Mar. 14, 2012)

Steamed Up Again

Euro-Pro Operating LLC (Newton, MA) has sued Thane Int’l, Inc. (La Quinta, CA) and the Home Shopping Network (St. Petersburg, FL) for design patent and trade dress infringement, as well as for unfair competition claims relating to competing sales of steam mops. 

These steam mops are serious business to Euro-Pro, who has sued on them before. 

Euro-Pro Operating LLC v. Thane Int’l, Inc., 11-12257-DPW (D. Mass. Dec. 19, 2011)

Boarding Helmet Designs Accused

Bern Unlimited, Inc. (Kingston, MA) has sued The Burton Corp. (Burlington, VT), Vans, Inc. (Cypress, CA), and Easton-Bell, Sports, Inc. (Van Nuys, CA) for infringement of design patent D572,865 related to an ornamental helmet.  Easton-Bell is also accused of infringement of design patent D572,880 related to a summer liner. 

         

D572,865                                            D572,880

Bern Unlimited, Inc. v. Vans, Inc., 11-12278-DJC (D. Mass. Dec. 20, 2011)

Bern Unlimited, Inc. v. The Burton Corp., 11-12280-JLT (D. Mass. Dec. 20, 2011)

Bern Unlimited, Inc. v. Easton-Bell, Sports, Inc., 11-12281-DPW (D. Mass. Dec. 20, 2011)

Patentee Files DJ Over Threatened Suit

Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. (Dublin, CA) has sued Optovue, Inc. (Fremont, CA) and MIT for declaratory judgment that it does not infringe Patent No. 7,884,945 (directed to optical coherence tomography scanning) and that the patent is invalid.  MIT is the assignee of the patent and Optovue is the exclusive licensee.  Carl Zeiss and Optovue are engaged in litigation on Carl Zeiss’s patents in Delaware.  The complaint alleges that Optovue threatened Carl Zeiss with suit under the ‘945 patent if the Delaware case didn’t settle.  Carl Zeiss acted first on that threat, and brought this DJ claim. 

Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc. v. Optovue, Inc., 11-11990-JCB (D. Mass. Nov. 9, 2011)

Luggage Manufacturer Draws The Line

Rimowa GMBH (Cologne, Germany) has sued Zero Halliburton, Inc. (Piscataway, NJ) for trademark and trade dress infringement over Zero Halliburton’s use of a horizontal line pattern on luggage that Rimowa claims infringes on its own registered design. 

Rimowa GMBH v. Zero Halliburton, Inc., 11-11643-DPW (D. Mass. Sep. 16, 2011)

Employee Sued For Walking Off With Source Code

Iconics, Inc. (Foxboro, MA) has sued a former employee residing in Catania, Italy for copyright infringement.  The complaint alleges that while the individual was employed by Iconics he copied source code which he then brought to a competitor, Volpe Industries, Inc., to use in competing software. 

Iconics, Inc. v. Massaro, 11-11526-DPW (D. Mass. Aug. 30, 2011)

LUNESTA Goes for Knockout

Sunovion Pharm. Inc. (Marlborough, MA) has sued Health Science Nutrition, Inc. (Lindon, UT) for trademark infringement.  Sunovion alleges that Health Science’s LUNEXOR sleep aid products infringe Sunovion’s trademark in LUNESTA® prescription sleep aid.  Sunovion also alleges that Health Science purchased keyword ads so LUNEXOR would appear for searches for LUNESTA, that Health Science setup fake domains to advertise its product (<sleepingpillreviews.com>, <bestsleepingpills.org>, and <buytopsleepingpills.com>, and that LUNEXOR copied LUNESTA’s moth design, as shown below: 

Sunovion Pharm. Inc. v. Health Science Nutrition, Inc., 11-11564-DPW (D. Mass. Sep. 6, 2011)

TRO Granted In Knee Treatment Case

In April 2011 Genzyme twice sued Seikagaku Corp. and affiliates for patent infringement related to the defendants’ Gel-One product.  Genzyme also moved for a preliminary injunction.  Perhaps because the PI was taking too long, Genzyme also moved for a temporary restraining order preventing sales of the Gel-One product while the PI was under consideration.  That motion for TRO (good for an initial 14 days) was granted by Judge Woodlock (the case was originally assigned to Judge Casper but reassigned given the earlier cases).  The product was approved by the FDA on March 22, 2011, but sales had not begun as of the first complaint.  Now they're prohibited.  Absent a renewed order from the court, they’ll be ok again on October 17. 

Genzyme Corp. v. Seikagaku Corp., 11-10636-DPW (D. Mass. Oct. 3, 2011)

Web Bait-And-Switch Results In Trademark Suit

Pure Encapsulations, Inc. (Sudbury, MA) has sued iHerb, LLC (Moreno Valley, CA) for trademark infringement.  The complaint alleges that defendant (who is not an authorized seller of plaintiff’s products) operates a website offering to sell plaintiff’s products but when users attempt to do so, they are greeted with a page saying plaintiff’s products are “discontinued” and are solicited to instead purchase directly competitive products. 

Pure Encapsulations, Inc. v. iHerb, LLC, 11-11463-DPW (D. Mass. Aug. 16, 2011)