For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, June 22nd, 2020 we will discuss the following cases:

Medinol Ltd. v. Cordis Corp. (CAFC 2020)(available here)

FRCP 60(b) allows a party to request a district court to reconsider a court order. The rule is very useful and interestingly enough does not contain a firm deadline for when motions under rule 60 must be filed, it only mandates that such motions be filed “within a reasonable time.” In the current case Medinol sued Cordis for patent infringement, but the case was tossed out under the doctrine of laches (Medinol had waited too long). Three years after filing the lawsuit the Supreme Court came down with SCA Hygiene Prods. Aktiebolag v. First Quality Baby Prods., LLC, which ruled that laches was not a proper defense in such cases. Medinol filed a 60(b) motion arguing that with the change in law, the order should be reconsidered. The District Court disagreed and the Federal Circuit affirmed.

Ubisoft v. Yousician (CAFC 2020)(available here)

Ubisoft sued Yousician in 2015 for patent infringement of US patent No. 9,839,852 . The ‘852 related to computer games that could teach players music. The case was dismissed under FRCP 12(b)(6) with defendants arguing the ‘852 related to an abstract idea and was therefore invalid. The District Court agreed and the Federal Circuit affirmed.

All are invited to attend. Due to the Covid-19 situation the meeting will be conducted electronically via zoom. Join us by using this link at 12:00pm PT. This activity is approved for 1 hour of MCLE credit. If you will be joining us, please RSVP to Elisha Manzur by 9 am Monday morning.