For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, August 7, 2017, we will discuss the following cases:

3D Med. Imaging Sys., LLC v. 3D Med. Imaging Sys., LLC, (N.D. Ga. January 2017) (available here). Plaintiff acquired a patent portfolio and began suing defendant for patent infringement. Defendant raised the affirmative defense of inequitable conduct arguing that one of the asserted patents had been intentionally abandoned and then revived. The court found plaintiff’s assertion to the patent office that non-payment of a maintenance fee for the patent was unintentional was a material misrepresentation, and thus inequitable conduct that barred enforcement of the patent.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Merus N.V., (CAFC. July 27, 2017) (available here). Regeneron Pharmaceuticals held a patent for a genetically modified mouse. The lower court found the patent unenforceable due to inequitable conduct and the CAFC affirmed.  Strangely enough, no intent to deceive the PTO was found, rather the court decided to uphold the sanction as punishment for conduct during litigation.