In the latest installment of their Law360 column on notable Federal Circuit decisions, partners Sean Murray and Jeremiah Helm analyze the outcome of a recent ruling in AlexSam Inc. v. Aetna Inc.
According to the authors, the ruling “serves as a warning to licensees that believe their agreement protects them from being sued for infringing the patent.” Murray and Helm explore the history of AlexSam’s patent infringement claims regarding a now-expired patent that facilitates specialized transactions on standard credit-card readers. Aetna was licensed under Alexsam’s patent. However, as the authors explain, the license contained restrictions that made it narrower than the claims of Alexsam’s patent. The result was that Aetna was found to infringe because its system fell within the scope of the patent but not within the scope of the license.
Murray and Helm conclude that AlexSam demonstrates that having a license under a patent is not enough to avoid infringement – licensees must carefully review the specific terms of the license if they wish to avoid being sued for infringement.
Read the full article here.
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