Composite Resources Inc v. Recon Medical LLC

CourtDistrict Court, D. Nevada
DecidedJanuary 6, 2022
Docket2:17-cv-01755
StatusUnknown

This text of Composite Resources Inc v. Recon Medical LLC (Composite Resources Inc v. Recon Medical LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Nevada primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Composite Resources Inc v. Recon Medical LLC, (D. Nev. 2022).

Opinion

3 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

4 DISTRICT OF NEVADA

5 * * *

6 COMPOSITE RESOURCES INC., Case No. 2:17-cv-01755-MMD-VCF

7 Plaintiff and Counter Defendant, PERMANENT INJUNCTION ORDER

8 v.

9 RECON MEDICAL LLC,

10 Defendant and Counter Claimant.

11 12 I. SUMMARY 13 This is a patent, trademark, and unfair competition case about tourniquets used to 14 stop the flow of blood to a body part when that body part is severely injured. (ECF No. 1.) 15 The jury found Defendant Recon Medical LLC’s tourniquets infringe on Plaintiff Composite 16 Resources, Inc. (“CRI”)’s asserted patents.1 (ECF No. 253 (jury verdict).) CRI moves for 17 a permanent injunction preventing Recon from selling its infringing tourniquets. (ECF No. 18 246 (“Motion”).2) Because the applicable factors favor entering a permanent injunction, 19 and as further explained below, the Court will grant the Motion. 20 /// 21

22 1The Asserted Patents are United States Patent No. 7,842,067 (“the ’067 Patent”), United States Patent No. 7,892,253 (“the ’253 Patent”), and United States Patent No. 23 8,888,807 (“the ’807 Patent”). (ECF No. 171 at 8-9.) CRI owns these three patents. (See id.) 24 2This reference is to a summary of the minutes of the proceedings during which 25 CRI’s counsel made an oral motion for entry of a permanent injunction following the conclusion of the jury trial on patent infringement. The Court ordered both parties to file 26 simultaneous post-trial briefs on CRI’s motion for a permanent injunction during those same proceedings. (ECF No. 246.) After the parties filed those briefs (ECF Nos. 258, 259), 27 the Court issued a minute order directing the parties to file responses to the arguments raised in the other party’s brief. (ECF No. 262.) The parties then timely filed those 1 II. BACKGROUND 2 The Court resolved some of the claims in this case pretrial, the scope of the 3 remaining issues narrowed when Recon filed for bankruptcy and CRI accordingly adjusted 4 its requested remedy as to its remaining claim, and then a jury found in CRI’s favor on the 5 key factual question of patent infringement. 6 More specifically, before trial, the Court granted summary judgment to CRI on its 7 trademark infringement and federal unfair competition claims. (ECF No. 152 at 16-23.) As 8 pertinent here, the Court specifically found that Recon infringed CRI’s Combat Application 9 Tourniquet mark. (Id. at 16-22.) The Court further found Recon had engaged in unfair 10 competition because it used the Combat Application Tourniquet mark, told a prospective 11 customer in an email exchange that Recon’s tourniquets were “rebranded” CAT 12 tourniquets with “upgrades,” and offered its products in the same three colors that CRI 13 does. (Id. at 22-23.) 14 Trial in this case was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. (ECF No. 219 15 at 1.) After Recon filed for bankruptcy several months before trial, CRI obtained an order 16 from the bankruptcy court stating that it could pursue injunctive relief on its patent 17 infringement claims only before this Court, voluntarily dismissed its claim for monetary 18 damages in this Court and stated it had abandoned any intention of filing a proof of claim 19 in the bankruptcy court for monetary damages for patent infringement. (Id. at 1-2.) CRI 20 supported that representation with a declaration from its Chief Financial Officer (and later 21 trial witness) Derek G. Thompson. (ECF No. 217-1.) In that declaration, Mr. Thompson 22 stated that he had analyzed the documents Recon filed in bankruptcy court, and based on 23 that analysis, determined Recon could not pay its unsecured creditors including CRI—and 24 the only source of cash it had to pay those creditors would come from selling products that 25 CRI accused of patent infringement. (Id. at 3.) Thus, CRI “concluded that, as a practical 26 matter, it effectively has no remedy for damages based upon Recon’s patent 27 infringement.” (Id. at 3-4.) 1 The Court proceeded to hold a jury trial on patent infringement only. (ECF Nos. 2 242, 243, 245.) The jury found that Recon’s Gen 1, Gen 2, Gen 3, and Gen 4 tourniquets 3 infringe CRI’s asserted patents. (ECF No. 253.) Outside the presence of the jury, and 4 before the jury delivered its verdict, the Court heard argument from both parties under 5 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 50. (ECF No. 245.) The Court granted in part, and denied 6 in part, both parties’ motions. (Id.) The Court granted Recon’s motion “as to claims 15 and 7 16 of the ’067 Patent.” (Id.) The Court granted CRI’s motion as to: “(1) [Recon’s] invalidity 8 defense and counterclaim for declaratory relief to the extent such a counterclaim is still 9 maintained, finding the three patents at issue to be valid and (2) infringement as to 10 [Recon’s] Gen 1, Gen 2 and Gen 3 products.” (Id.) The Court otherwise denied the 11 motions. (See id.) 12 After the jury delivered its verdict, and also outside the presence of the jury, the 13 Court held a hearing on CRI’s request for a permanent injunction—the only remedy CRI 14 sought in this Court. (ECF No. 246.) Mr. Thompson and Graham Rogers testified on CRI’s 15 behalf; Recon did not put on any witnesses. (See id.) CRI’s marked trial exhibit P13 was 16 admitted for the purposes of the hearing. (See id.) That exhibit is Recon’s bankruptcy filing 17 and supporting documents. And that exhibit is the same information that Mr. Thompson 18 explained and analyzed in the declaration described above. (ECF No. 217-1.) As noted, 19 CRI’s request for a permanent injunction is the subject of this order. 20 III. LEGAL STANDARD 21 Consistent with traditional equitable principles, a patentee seeking a permanent injunction must make a four-part showing: (1) that it has suffered 22 an irreparable injury; (2) that remedies available at law, such as monetary 23 damages, are inadequate to compensate for that injury; (3) that, considering the balance of hardships between the plaintiff and the defendant, a remedy 24 in equity is warranted; and (4) that the public interest would not be disserved by a permanent injunction. 25 26 Robert Bosch LLC v. Pylon Mfg. Corp., 659 F.3d 1142, 1148 (Fed. Cir. 2011) (citing eBay 27 Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C., 547 U.S. 388, 391 (2006)). 1 IV. DISCUSSION 2 The Court analyzes each of the four applicable factors, in turn, below. However, 3 before it does, the Court briefly addresses and rejects two arguments Recon raised in its 4 post-trial briefing that fall outside the four-factor framework. Recon first argued that the 5 Court should not rule on CRI’s Motion until both parties had trial transcripts available to 6 them. (ECF No. 258 at 6-7.) However, it appears that both parties received any missing 7 trial transcripts before they filed their responsive briefs (ECF Nos. 263, 264) because both 8 of those briefs included citations to trial testimony. Thus, the Court rejects that argument 9 as moot. Second, Recon argues that enjoining it from selling Gen 1, Gen 2, and Gen 3 of 10 its tourniquets violates the automatic stay imposed by the bankruptcy court. (ECF No. 258 11 at 21-22.) However, the Court agrees with CRI (ECF No. 264 at 11) that it may enjoin 12 future acts of infringement, including as to prior generations of Recon’s tourniquets. See 13 Voice Sys. & Servs., Inc. v. VMX, Inc., Case No. 91-C-88-B, 1992 WL 510121, at *10-*11 14 (N.D. Okla. Nov. 5, 1992) (finding that action seeking “to enjoin post-bankruptcy petition 15 alleged acts of patent infringement” did not violate an automatic bankruptcy stay). 16 A.

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Composite Resources Inc v. Recon Medical LLC, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/composite-resources-inc-v-recon-medical-llc-nvd-2022.