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September 2, 2010

On Tape

Funai Electric sued four Daewoo companies for infringing six US VCR patents. A tough battle to trial found two patents infringed for about $10 million in damages against two companies. Two defendants spontaneously pulled out, but the district court, applying "the law of South Korea as to successor liability," ruled that there was no goat to scape. In a multi-patent detailed analysis involving claim construction, prosecution estoppel (no estoppel on one amended claim, where the amendment was "merely tangential" to patentability), infringement (including doctrine of equivalents and willfulness), validity, and damages, the district court was affirmed by the CAFC, with one exception. The district court erred in applying Korean law to the US subsidiary - US law should have been applied there, which then raised the issue of which state. So, mostly affirmed, with reversal and remand regarding the US subsidiary that skipped. (CAFC 2009-1225, -1244) precedential.

Posted by Patent Hawk at September 2, 2010 6:35 PM | Case Law