CNH America LLC v. Kinze Manufacturing, Inc.

809 F. Supp. 2d 280, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88990, 2011 WL 3555778
CourtDistrict Court, D. Delaware
DecidedAugust 11, 2011
DocketC.A. No. 08-945-GMS
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 809 F. Supp. 2d 280 (CNH America LLC v. Kinze Manufacturing, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Delaware primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
CNH America LLC v. Kinze Manufacturing, Inc., 809 F. Supp. 2d 280, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88990, 2011 WL 3555778 (D. Del. 2011).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM

LEONARD P. SLEET, Chief Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

In this patent infringement action, plaintiffs CNH America LLC and Blue Leaf I.P., Inc. (collectively, “Case” or “the plaintiffs”) allege that agricultural equipment manufactured by defendant Kinze Manufacturing Inc. (“Kinze”) infringes the asserted claims of the patents-in-suit.1 (D.I. 1.) The court held a nine-day jury trial in this matter on January 31 through February 10, 2011. (D.I. 326-333.) At trial, both parties properly moved for judgment as a matter of law (“JMOL”) on a number of grounds pursuant to Rule 50(a) of the [284]*284Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (see Tr. 1812-52), and the court denied the parties’ motions.2 (See Tr. 1856.)

On February 11, 2011, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of Kinze on the issue of infringement with respect to all claims. (See D.I. 303 at 2.) The jury further found that all the asserted claims were invalid due to anticipation, and that all but two of the asserted claims were invalid due to obviousness. (Id. at 5-6.) The jury also found that the asserted claims were not invalid due to indefiniteness (id. at 3), lack of written description (id. at 7), or enablement (id. at 8), and that claims 18 and 207 of the '428 Patent were not obvious (id. at 6). The jury issued an advisory verdict in favor of Case on inequitable conduct, finding that neither the materiality nor the intent prongs of inequitable conduct were satisfied with respect to the patents-in-suit. (See id. at 9.) The court entered judgment on the verdict on February 24, 2011. (D.I. 306.) Presently before the court are the parties’ post-trial motions.3 Having considered the entire record in this case, the substantial evidence in the record, the parties’ post-trial submissions, and the applicable law, the court will deny all the parties’ post-trial motions. The court’s reasoning follows.

II. BACKGROUND OF THE TECHNOLOGY

The patents-in-suit relate to vacuum seed metering technology used in agricultural seed planters. The seed meters described in the patents-in-suit include a rotatable disc separating a seed chamber from a vacuum chamber. At trial, the main focus of both the parties’ invalidity and infringement arguments focused on the requirement, appearing in one form or another in each of the asserted claims, that the metering device contain an “opening” or “openings” “proximate to the seed discharge area” that “promote the release of seeds” from the disc.

III. STANDARD OF REVIEW

Case’s motions assert that is entitled to judgment as a matter of law pursuant to Rule 50 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or, alternatively, that it is entitled to a new trial pursuant to Rule 59 or Rule 60(b).

A. Renewed JMOL Motions

To prevail on a renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law following a jury trial and verdict, the moving party “ ‘must show that the jury’s findings, presumed or express, are not supported by substantial evidence or, if they were, that the legal eonclusion(s) implied [by] the jury’s verdict cannot in law be supported by those findings.’ ” Pannu v. Iolab Corp., 155 F.3d 1344, 1348 (Fed.Cir.1998) (quoting Perkin-Elmer Corp. v. Computervision Corp., 732 F.2d 888, 893 (Fed.Cir.1984)). “Substantial evidence” is defined as “such relevant evidence from the record taken as a whole as might be accepted by a reasonable mind as adequate to support the finding under review.” Perkin-Elmer Corp., 732 F.2d at 893.

The court should only grant the motion “if, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant and [285]*285giving it the advantage of every fair and reasonable inference, there is insufficient evidence from which a jury reasonably could find liability.” Lightning Lube, Inc. v. Witco Corp., 4 F.3d 1153, 1166 (3d Cir.1993) (citing Wittekamp v. Gulf Western Inc., 991 F.2d 1137, 1141 (3d Cir.1993)). “In determining whether the evidence is sufficient to sustain liability, the court may not weigh the evidence, determine the credibility of witnesses, or substitute its version of the facts for the jury’s version.” Lightning Lube, 4 F.3d at 1166 (citing Fineman v. Armstrong World Indus., Inc., 980 F.2d 171, 190 (3d Cir.1992)). Rather, the court must resolve all conflicts of evidence in favor of the non-movant. Williamson v. Consol. Rail Corp., 926 F.2d 1344, 1348 (3d Cir.1991); Perkin-Elmer Corp., 732 F.2d at 893.

“The question is not whether there is literally no evidence supporting the party against whom the motion is directed but whether there is evidence upon which the jury could properly find a verdict for that party.” Lightning Lube, 4 F.3d at 1166 (quoting Patzig v. O’Neil, 577 F.2d 841, 846 (3d Cir.1978)). In conducting such an analysis, “the court may not determine the credibility of the witnesses nor ‘substitute its choice for that of the jury between conflicting elements of the evidence.’ ” Syngenta Seeds, Inc. v. Monsanto Co., 409 F.Supp.2d 536, 539 (D.Del.2005) (quoting Perkin-Elmer Corp., 732 F.2d at 893).

B. New Trial

Pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59, a court may grant a new trial “for any of the reasons for which a new trial has heretofore been granted in an action at law in federal court.” Fed. R.Civ.P. 59(a)(1)(A). The decision to grant or deny a new trial is within the sound discretion of the trial court. See Allied Chem. Corp. v. Daiflon, Inc., 449 U.S. 33, 36, 101 S.Ct. 188, 66 L.Ed.2d 193 (1980). In making this determination, the trial judge should consider the overall setting of the trial, the character of the evidence, and the complexity or simplicity of the legal principles which the jury had to apply to the facts. Lind v. Schenley Indus., Inc., 278 F.2d 79, 89 (3d Cir.1960). Unlike the standard for determining judgment as a matter of law, the court need not view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict winner. Allied Chem. Corp., 449 U.S. at 36, 101 S.Ct. 188. A court should grant a new trial in a jury case, however, only if “the verdict was against the weight of the evidence ... [and] a miscarriage of justice would result if the verdict were to stand.” Williamson v.

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809 F. Supp. 2d 280, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 88990, 2011 WL 3555778, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/cnh-america-llc-v-kinze-manufacturing-inc-ded-2011.