Patents Post Grant Blog

Admissibility in Litigation?

Several courts have recently been faced with the issue of whether evidence of parallel reexamination proceedings should be admissible at trial. Parties in these cases have attempted to use the existence of pending reexamination proceedings to prove or disprove invalidity, inequitable conduct, and willful infringement. Opponents generally argue that evidence of parallel reexamination proceedings is irrelevant, unfairly prejudicial, and/or contrary to the statutory presumption of validity under 35 U.S.C. § 282.

Presented with both points of view, the rulings of courts vary, and whether this evidence is allowed tends to depend on the circumstances of the case. Many courts quickly reject Read the rest of this entry »

The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia in E-Z-GO v. Club Car, Inc. (Case No. 1:09-cv-119) has stayed the litigation of E-Z-GO’s patent pending the outcome of inter partes reexamination.  E-Z-GO asserts that two of Club Car’s currently marketed electric vehicles infringe U.S. Patent No. 7,332,881, entitled “AC Drive System for Electrically Operated Vehicle.”

The court granted Club Car’s motion to stay the litigation pending the outcome of reexamination despite the fact that the PTO has not yet granted Club Car’s request for inter partes reexamination of the ‘881 patent.  In granting the stay, the court noted that the PTO grants 95% of all requests for inter partes reexamination, and that the stay could be lifted if the PTO declines to grant Club Car’s request for inter partes reexamination.