Intellectual Property Law

Jury Verdict in Robert Bosch, LLC v. Pylon Manufacturing Corp.

By Karen E. Keller, Andrew A. Lundgren et al.

A jury returned a mixed verdict on Friday, April 23, in the patent infringement suit between Robert Bosch, LLC v. Pylon Manufacturing Corp. C.A. No. 08-542-SLR, Verdict Sheet (D. Del. April 23, 2010).

There were three patents-in-suit, all relating to wiper blade technology. The first patent asserted by plaintiff is entitled "Glass Wiper Blade for Motor Vehicles" (U.S. Patent No. 6,292,974). The jury found that the asserted claims were invalid in light of two prior art references. It also found this patent invalid because one or more of the named inventors did not himself invent the subject matter but learned of it from another.

The jury found that the accused Bosch products infringed certain claims of the second patent entitled "Wiper Blade for the Glass Surfaces of Motor Vehicles with an elongated, spring-elastic support element" (U.S. Patent No. 6,675,434). It also found, however, that one claim was not infringed. The jury found that two of infringed claims were obvious in view of two U.S. patents and that one of the remaining infringed claims and the non-infringed claim were valid.

The jury found the third patent, U.S. Patent No. 6,944,905, entitled "Wiper blade for cleaning screens in particular on motor vehicles." to be infringed and valid.

Of note in this case, the verdict form contained quite a bit of detail compared to a typical verdict form in this district. The redacted form is set forth below.

Robert Bosch, LLC v. Pylon Manufacturing Corp. C.A. No. 08-542-SLR, Verdict Sheet (D. Del. April 23, 2010).

Full post as published by Delaware IP Law Blog on April 27, 2010 (boomark / email).