Abhishek Bapna Intellectual Property Litigation Attorney Patterson Belknap

Abhishek Bapna, Associate

NY Patent Decisions Blog

Visit the Full Blog

NYPatentDecisionsBlog.com is a source for the latest patent decisions from the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. The blog is authored by Patterson Belknap’s Patent Litigation practice group, whose members are highly experienced trial attorneys with extensive technical knowledge. Many have advanced scientific degrees and industry experience in fields such as communications, electrical and electro-optical technology, semiconductor technology, metallurgical engineering, chemistry and biochemistry. The team represents consumer products, electrical and software, medical device, mechanical, and pharmaceutical companies in a broad range of patent litigation matters, including district court cases, PTO and PTAB trial proceedings, patent licensing and contractual disputes concerning patent rights.

Judge Cote Interprets Covenant Not to Sue as Broader Than License Grant Within the Same Contract

by Abhishek Bapna and Lewis V. Popovski on April 16, 2019

On Apri1 15, 2019, District Judge Denise Cote (S.D.N.Y.) denied Defendant St. Lawrence Communications, LLC ("SLC")'s motion for summary judgment that the scope of a covenant not to sue does not preclude a separate lawsuit for patent infringement against LG Electronics, Inc. ("LG") in the Eastern District of Texas. In the E.D. Tex. lawsuit, SLC and its successor-in-interest, EVS Codec Technologies, LLC ("ECT") allege that LG infringes a patent that covers an audio coding standard called "Enhanced Voice Services" ("EVS").

Go

Judge Matsumoto "Puts to Bed" Claim Construction Disputes by Adopting Several Independent Constructions, But Defers Ruling on Indefiniteness

by Lewis V. Popovski and Abhishek Bapna on March 6, 2019

On February 25, 2019, District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto (E.D.N.Y.) ruled on claim construction and indefiniteness disputes in an action brought by Plaintiff Bedgear, LLC against Defendant Fredman Bros. Furniture Co., Inc. d/b/a as Glideaway Sleep Prods. Plaintiff alleged infringement by Defendant of four patents pertaining to pillow covers and bedding systems: U.S. Patent Nos. 8,646,134;  8,887,332; 9,015,883 ("the '883 patent"); and 9,155,408.

Go

Judge Oetken Sua Sponte Transfers Action to California Upon Holding that Pendent Venue Cannot Be Exercised Over a Patent Infringement Claim

by Abhishek Bapna and Lewis V. Popovski on January 7, 2019

On January 2, 2019, District Judge Paul Oetken (S.D.N.Y.) transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ("CDCA") an action brought by Plaintiff NextEngine, Inc. against Defendants NextEngine, Inc. (not a typographical error) and Mark Knighton ("Knighton"). Plaintiff alleged infringement by Defendants of four patents pertaining to 3-D laser scanning and two registered trademarks—"NEXTENGINE" and a gear-shaped logo—in addition to unfair competition under the Lanham Act.

Go

Judge Sweet Holds Knowledge of Patent at Issue Was Not “Acquired” During an Acquisition of One Who Knew

by Abhishek Bapna and Lewis V. Popovski on July 24, 2018

On July 18, 2018, Judge Sweet granted defendants Daktronics, Inc.'s and Daktronics Hoist, Inc.'s (collectively, "Daktronics") motion for summary judgment on the issue of willful infringement. As we wrote in a previous post, more than two years after plaintiff Olaf Sööt Design, LLC ("OSD") filed its complaint, Judge Sweet granted OSD leave to amend its complaint to add the willful infringement claim.

Go

Judge Brown Grants Summary Judgment Where Plaintiffs Could Not Find Any Infringing Products

by Abhishek Bapna and Lewis V. Popovski on June 4, 2018

On May 30, 2018, United States Magistrate Judge Gary Brown (E.D.N.Y.) granted defendants Envirocare Technologies International, Ltd.'s, Envirocare Technologies, LLC's, and Steel City Vacuum Company's motion for summary judgment based on plaintiffs Nationwide Sales and Services, Inc.'s and Imig, Inc.'s failure to provide patent infringement claim charts, as required by both the local patent rules and the discovery schedule stipulated by the parties.

Go

Judge Cote Rules Claim Preamble is Limiting and Not So “Elastic” as to Be Indefinite

by Abhishek Bapna and Lewis V. Popovski on August 10, 2017

On August 4, 2017, District Judge Denise Cote issued a claim construction order that held the preamble of claim 1 of Lumos Technology Co., Ltd.'s ("Lumos") U.S. Patent No. 8,746,906 ("the '906 patent") is limiting and that a person of ordinary skill would know what "elastic material" means, and thus the relative phrase does not render claim 5 indefinite.

Go

Judge Sweet Holds Invalidity and Non-Infringement Defenses Cannot Shield a Licensee's Breach of a Patent License

by Abhishek Bapna on March 27, 2017

On March 17, 2017, District Judge Robert Sweet (S.D.N.Y.) granted plaintiff Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai's ("Mt. Sinai") motion to strike defendant Neurocrine Biosciences  ("Neurocrine") affirmative defenses of patent invalidity, non-infringement, and patent misuse, and to dismiss Neurocrine's parallel declaratory judgment counterclaims.

Go

Judge Nathan Grants Stay Pending Appeal of PTAB’s Inter Partes Review Decisions

by Abhishek Bapna and Lewis V. Popovski on October 27, 2016

On October 18, District Judge Alison J. Nathan (S.D.N.Y.) granted defendants Verizon Communications Inc.’s, Verizon Services Corp.’s, Verizon Business Network Services Inc.’s, and Cellco Partnership’s (collectively, “Verizon”) motion to stay the litigation until resolution of a consolidated appeal, pending before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, from two decisions of the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) following inter partes review of claims in two of the patents-in-suit.

Go

Judge Woods Holds That Assignment of a Patent is Not an Assignment of an “Interest” Under a License to the Patent

by Abhishek Bapna and Lewis V. Popovski on October 3, 2016

On September 28, 2016, District Judge Gregory Woods (S.D.N.Y.) denied defendant YKK Corp.’s (“YKK”) motion to dismiss the suit, in which plaintiffs Au New Haven, LLC (“Au New Haven”) and Trelleborg Coated Systems US, Inc. (“Trelleborg”) (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) allege infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,105,214 (“the ‘214 patent”) and breach of the license agreement between the inventor and YKK.

Go

Judge Oetken Holds That Forum-Selection Clause in License Agreement Does Not Trump First-to-File Rule Altogether

by Lewis V. Popovski and Abhishek Bapna on September 21, 2016

On September 16, 2016, District Judge J. Paul Oetken (S.D.N.Y.) denied plaintiff Comcast Corp.’s (“Comcast”) motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to enjoin defendant Rovi Corp. (“Rovi”) from continuing to litigate its patent infringement actions against Comcast in the Eastern District of Texas (“EDTX”) and the International Trade Commission (“ITC”).

Go

Judge Cote Finds Initiating Lawsuits to Obtain Settlements Rather Than a Determination on the Merits is Not an Abuse of Process

by Lewis V. Popovski and Abhishek Bapna on August 4, 2016

On July 28, 2016, District Judge Denise Cote (S.D.N.Y.) granted defendants AlphaCap Ventures, LLC’s, a non-practicing entity, and Richard Juarez’s (collectively, “AlphaCap”) motion to dismiss plaintiff Gust, Inc.’s (“Gust”) allegations of (1) attempted monopolization under the Sherman Act; (2) patent misuse; and (3) abuse of process, stemming from the filing of patent infringement lawsuits in Texas.

Go

Judge Briccetti Stays Patent Case Against a Customer Pending Resolution of Lawsuit Against Supplier

by Lewis V. Popovski and Abhishek Bapna on June 20, 2016

On June 3, 2016, District Judge Vincent L. Briccetti (S.D.N.Y.) stayed  a patent infringement action brought by plaintiff Marine Travelift (“Marine”) against defendant K. Graefe & Sons Corp. (“Graefe”), pending the resolution of patent litigation between Marine and ASCOM in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Marine’s infringement allegations against Graefe were based on Graefe’s purchase of equipment from ASCOM, and both cases involved Marine’s allegations of infringement of its U.S. Patent No. 8,215,441 (“the ’441 patent”). By the time Marine filed suit against Graefe, the case against ASCOM had already reached the summary judgment stage.

Go

Judge Rakoff Holds a 3-D “Magic Trick” Implemented With Software Is Not Equivalent to One Implemented With Hardware

by Abhishek Bapna and Lewis V. Popovski on April 28, 2016

On April 24, 2016, District Judge Jed S. Rakoff (S.D.N.Y.) ruled  that defendants Nintendo Co., Ltd. and Nintendo of America, Inc.'s (collectively, “Nintendo”)’s 3DS pocket gaming console does not infringe Tomita Technologies USA, LLC (“Tomita”)’s U.S. Patent No. 7,417,664 (“the ’664 patent”) either literally or under the doctrine of equivalents.

Go

Pleading Merely that Defendant Had Knowledge of the Patent is Insufficient to Support a Willful Infringement Claim

by Lewis V. Popovski and Abhishek Bapna on March 22, 2016

On March 16, 2016, District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin (S.D.N.Y.) granted in part defendant Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (“Lowe’s”)’s motion to dismiss plaintiff Iron Gate Security, Inc. (“Iron Gate”)’s Complaint. Iron Gate commenced the action on November 11, 2015, alleging direct infringement, induced infringement, contributory infringement, and willful infringement, by Lowe’s, of U.S. Patent No. 6,288,641.

Go

S.D.N.Y. Holds That There is No Presumption of § 101 Patent-Eligibility

by Lewis V. Popovski and Abhishek Bapna on March 1, 2016

On February 22, 2016, District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin (S.D.N.Y.) granted counterclaim-defendants WPP PLC’s and its subsidiaries’ (collectively, “the WPP Companies”) motion for summary judgment of patent invalidity under 35 U.S.C. § 101.

Go

Discovery of Foreign Profits and Sales of Accused Products Found Relevant

by Lewis V. Popovski and Abhishek Bapna on December 1, 2015

On November 25, 2015, District Judge Laura Swain ordered defendant Bio-Rad to produce information related to foreign sales and profits of its Next Generation Chromatography (“NGC”) protein purification devices, overturning Magistrate Judge Netburn’s previous order that Bio-Rad need not produce such information.

Go