Intellectual Property Law

Cigarette Patent Case Resumes With Jury Trial

By Brian Wm. Higgin

• UPDATE: Star Scientific vs. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

     Next Monday, Petersburg, Virginia-based Star Scientific, Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. will resume their battle over allegations of RJR's infringement of Star's U.S. Patent Nos. 6,202,649 and 6,425,401, as the parties open the first of five days of their jury trial in the courtroom of the Honorable Marvin Garbis of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. Star's lawsuit has a long history, including a bench trial on the issue of the enforceability of the asserted patents in 2005. On June 25, 2007, Judge Garbis found Star's patents to be unenforceable on the basis of inequitable conduct by Star's attorneys during prosecution of the patents before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Judges Michel, Dyk, and Schall) reversed, and now the case is back before the trial court. Start time: 10:00 am, May 18.

Related posts:  Inequitable Conduct, Conspiracy Theory

Full post as published by Maryland Intellectual Property Law Blog on May 15, 2009 (boomark / email).