Patent Law

Bill Schackner, for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, wrote on June 21, 2008:

The University of Pittsburgh, turned down by a federal judge in Pittsburgh, has taken a patent infringement lawsuit against the world's largest producer of radiotherapy equipment for cancer treatment to a California court.

Pitt alleges that Varian Medical Systems Inc., headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., infringed on two patents held by the university. Documents filed with the complaint describe one of the devices at issue as being able to match X-ray images with reference images, and another as having the capability to respond to a patient's body movements during diagnosis and treatment.

"Varian's infringement has injured and damaged" the university, states the lawsuit filed this week in federal court for the Northern District of California. Pitt is seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages.

The complaint alleges that Varian infringed "with full knowledge" of the existence of the patents. It says the California court has proper jurisdiction over the matter, in part because of where Varian does business.

The complaint was dated Monday, the same day U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab in Pittsburgh issued an order dismissing a lawsuit over the patents that had been filed April 13, 2007. Court records indicate Pitt plans to appeal.

See the full article here.