Fed. Circ. Axes Inventor’s $1.25M IP Win Under On-Sale Bar
February 10, 2022
Law360
Types : In the News
The Federal Circuit wiped out inventor Larry Junker’s $1.25 million win against two medical device companies, finding Thursday that his patented catheter insertion design was unenforceable because it was offered for sale more than a year before he applied for the design patent.
A Jan. 8, 1999, letter that included pricing information sent to Boston Scientific was not a preliminary negotiation, as U.S. District Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg had ruled, but rather constituted an offer for sale, a three-judge panel held in a precedential opinion. Because of that, the panel reversed Judge Goldberg’s ruling, saying the on-sale bar was triggered and as a result the patent was unenforceable.
The decision lets Medical Components Inc. and Martech Medical Products Inc. off the hook, at least for now, from paying the $1.25 million damages award to Junker, who sued them in 2013.
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Medical Components and Martech are represented by Alfred W. Zaher of Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads LLP.
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