Nilssen v. Osram Sylvania (Fed. Cir. 2007)
In a unanimous panel opinion, the CAFC has affirmed a district court finding that Ole Nilssen’s patents are unenforceable due to inequitable conduct. Although Nilssen prosecuted his own patents pro se, the CAFC cut him no slack since he was smart enough to “cite the [MPEP], patent statutes and regulations, and case law during prosecution.”
Unenforceability of Non-Asserted Patents: In a related family of patents, misconduct during prosecution of one of the patents can lead to the whole family being found unenforceable. Reversing that theory, the CAFC agreed that the lower court properly found several of Nilssen’s non-asserted patents to be unenforceable. (Although the court did not create any strict limit on the potential bleed-through, it should be noted that Nilssen originally asserted infringement of those patents, but later dropped those claims.)
Expert Testimony: Following Ferring, the CAFC agreed that Nilssen’s failure to disclose a close relationship with his 132 declarant constituted inequitable conduct.
Small Entity Fees: Although not during prosecution, pretending to be a small entity when paying maintenance fees can also lead to unenforceability. Here, the court found that payment of the small entity fee after licensing to Philips demonstrated an “obvious intent to mislead.”
Priority Claims: Misleading priority claims can also constitute inequitable conduct.
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