In Law360 Article, Paul Stewart Discusses Infringement Defense Challenges

In the latest installment of Knobbe Martens’ Law360 series on noteworthy Federal Circuit opinions, partner Paul Stewart writes about a recent decision in Life-Netics LLC v. Nu Tsai Capital LLC, a case that “addresses the intersection between state tort law, federal patent law and the First Amendment.”

In the decision, the Federal Circuit reversed the U.S. District Court’s grant of a preliminary injunction against a patent owner’s communications with its customers about its allegations of infringement, as an abuse of discretion.

Stewart writes, “The Federal Circuit held that the preliminary injunction was a prior restraint against speech, was inconsistent with the patent owner's rights under both patent law and the First Amendment to communicate allegations of infringement, and could not be upheld unless the patent owner's infringement allegations were both objectively and subjectively baseless. Following a detailed analysis, the Federal Circuit concluded that the patent owner's infringement allegations were at least reasonable, and thus the injunction could not stand.”

Stewart goes on to discuss the infringement allegations in the case, and concludes by saying that the case could end up before the Federal Circuit a second time, on the merits of the patent infringement claims.

Read the full article here.