Barnett v. Surefire Med., Inc.

342 F. Supp. 3d 1167
CourtDistrict Court, D. Colorado
DecidedSeptember 23, 2018
DocketCivil Action No. 17-cv-02470-PAB-KLM
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 342 F. Supp. 3d 1167 (Barnett v. Surefire Med., Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Barnett v. Surefire Med., Inc., 342 F. Supp. 3d 1167 (D. Colo. 2018).

Opinion

PHILIP A. BRIMMER, United States District Judge

This matter comes before the Court on Defendants' Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff's Seventh Claim for Unjust Enrichment and Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support Thereof [Docket No. 18]. The Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1331 and 1367.

I. BACKGROUND1

This case involves a patented design for an anti-reflux catheter. See Docket No. 1 at 1. Plaintiff alleges that he developed the design in 2007 while working at Johns Hopkins Medical Institution ("JHMI") under the supervision of defendant Aravind Arepally. Id. at 4-7, ¶¶ 7, 11, 15, 18. In 2009, Dr. Arepally left JHMI and co-founded defendant Surefire Medical, Inc. ("Surefire"). Id. at 9-10, ¶¶ 23-24. On December 2, 2009, Surefire filed a revised provisional patent application for an anti-reflux catheter design featuring an expandable and retractable mesh tip. Id. at 10, ¶ 25. On July 2, 2010, Surefire filed a non-provisional patent application (the "'525 Application") claiming priority from the revised provisional application and formally identifying Dr. Arepally as an inventor of the anti-reflux catheter design. Id. at 11-12, ¶¶ 29-30. On August 6, 2013, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent No. 8,500,775 ('775 Patent") from Surefire's non-provisional patent application. Id. at 12, ¶ 30; Docket No. 1-3 at 2.2 The '775 Patent describes a "protection device and method against embolization *1170agent reflux" and lists James E. Chomas, Leonard Pinchuk, John Martin, and Aravind Arepally as inventors. Docket No. 1-3 at 2. Surefire is listed on the patent as the "assignee." Id. After the issuance of the '775 Patent, Surefire obtained additional patents based in whole or in part on the '525 Application. Docket No. 1 at 12, ¶ 31.

As an inventor at JHMI, plaintiff claims he was "contractually entitled to compensation for commercialization of any patent that issued based on his invention pursuant to [Johns Hopkins University's] Intellectual Property Policy." Docket No. 1 at 8, 12-13, ¶¶ 20, 32. He further states that "there is a definitive reputational advantage [in academia] to being named an inventor on patents that result in medical products as well as receiving research grants utilizing said technology." Id. at 13, ¶ 34. Plaintiff alleges that Surefire and Arepally have derived substantial benefit from the anti-reflux catheter patents in the form of investments, compensation, and professional advancement. Id. at 13, ¶¶ 35-37. Plaintiff asserts that defendant Arepally has received at least $135,000 in consulting fees related to the anti-reflux catheters beginning in 2015. Id. , ¶ 37.

Plaintiff filed this lawsuit on October 16, 2017 asserting six claims for correction of inventorship and damages in relation to various patents issued to Surefire, and one claim for unjust enrichment against Dr. Arepally. See id. at 18-29.3 On November 30, 2017, defendants moved to dismiss the unjust enrichment claim under Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) on the ground that the claim is barred by the applicable statute of limitations. Docket No. 18. Plaintiff filed a response to the motion on December 21, 2017, Docket No. 19, to which defendants replied on January 4, 2018. Docket No. 20.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

To survive a motion to dismiss under Rule 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a complaint must allege enough factual matter that, taken as true, makes the plaintiff's "claim to relief...plausible on its face." Khalik v. United Air Lines , 671 F.3d 1188, 1190 (10th Cir. 2012) (citing Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly , 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007) ). "[W]here the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged-but it has not shown-that the pleader is entitled to relief." Ashcroft v. Iqbal , 556 U.S.

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Bluebook (online)
342 F. Supp. 3d 1167, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/barnett-v-surefire-med-inc-cod-2018.