Seyfarth Shaw IP Team Obtains Victory at the Federal Circuit

Contacts:
Kevin Livingston, National Director of Public Relations
(312) 460-6681 / (212) 218-5272, klivingston@seyfarth.com

Ivette Delgado, Senior Public Relations Associate
(212) 218-5273, idelgado@seyfarth.com

CHICAGO (May 26, 2011) — Lawyers from Seyfarth Shaw LLP’s Intellectual Property group obtained a significant victory for client Kingston Technology Company, Inc., in a matter closely watched by the semiconductor manufacturing market.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently issued its ruling confirming that a group of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) semiconductor and memory card manufacturers represented by Seyfarth Shaw and other law firms do not infringe the asserted claims of San Jose, California-based patent company, Tessera Inc. DRAM products are used in desktop and notebook computers and other electronic products.

Tessera accused the DRAM manufacturers of violating the Tariff Act of 1930 by importing infringing products into the United States. Tessera asked the International Trade Commission (ITC), a key battlefield in patent litigation, to issue an exclusion order barring those products from entering the U.S. On August 27, 2009, an ITC judge issued an initial determination of no violation  and found that the accused products do not infringe the asserted claims of Tessera’s patents. On October 30, 2009, the ITC decided to review that initial determination and requested further briefing from the parties. After the briefing, the ITC issued a final determination affirming the determination of no violation.

Tessera appealed the ITC’s determination to the Federal Circuit. In affirming the ITC’s noninfringement finding, the Federal Circuit concluded that the evidence supported the ITC’s determination. The Federal Circuit also affirmed the ITC’s finding regarding the doctrine of patent exhaustion, and it rejected Tessera’s contention that failure to pay royalties under a license converts an authorized sale into an unauthorized sale for the purposes of patent exhaustion.

The Seyfarth team representing Kingston Technology was led by patent infringement litigators Michael Levinson, Alan Unikel, Joseph Lanser, Matthew Werber and Jason Stiehl during the ITC proceeding and Federal Court appeal. Additional law firms, including Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe and Foley & Lardner represented other respondents in the case.

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