Indiana General Corp. v. Lockheed Aircraft Corp.

249 F. Supp. 809, 10 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1330, 148 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 312, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10345
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. California
DecidedJanuary 12, 1966
DocketCiv. 63-412
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 249 F. Supp. 809 (Indiana General Corp. v. Lockheed Aircraft Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Indiana General Corp. v. Lockheed Aircraft Corp., 249 F. Supp. 809, 10 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1330, 148 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 312, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10345 (S.D. Cal. 1966).

Opinion

HALL, District Judge.

This is a patent case wherein the plaintiff seeks an injunction and damages for infringement. The defendant’s answer denies infringement and alleges invalidity on the customary array of grounds, only one of which is involved at this time.

The matter for immediate consideration and decision is the defendant’s motion for summary judgment [F.R.Civ.P. 56(b), (c), (e)].

Before discussing the specific questions raised in the motion, it is necessary to make some general observations concerning the use of summary judgment and to advert to the contention of the plaintiff that summary judgment is not “ordinarily appropriate” in a patent case. A number of cases are cited to that effect, but, regardless of their holdings, it must be said that summary judgment *811 is not either “ordinarily” or otherwise appropriate in any case, if there is a genuine issue as to a material fact and, if so, that the movant is not entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.

The imprimatur of Rule 1 is that the rules should be construed “to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.” The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are to be construed broadly and liberally to that end. Phillips v. Baker (9 Cir., 1941), 121 F.2d 752, 754; Fong Sik Leung v. Dulles (9 Cir., 1955), 226 F.2d 74, at 80. Rule 56 was put in the rules to be used, and there is no reason why this salutary doctrine should not apply to Rule 56. Indeed there would now appear to be greater need for an increasing use of summary judgment procedure by defendants since the Supreme Court in Conley v. Gibson 1 and the Ninth Circuit in Corsican Productions v. Pitchess 2 have for all practical purposes nullified F.R. C.P. 12(b), (6), which permits motions to dismiss for “failure of the pleading to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” Thus defendants in federal courts are forced either to go to the very great expense of a trial on the merits of any and every unsubstantial and coercive claim howsoever unfounded in fact or law which may be made by an imaginative plaintiff in pro. per. 3 or by his counsel, or have resort to the summary judgment procedure, which is the only other means provided by the rules to secure the speedy and inexpensive determination of claims for relief.

There is no logical reason why summary judgment should not be granted in patent cases as distinguished from other cases. True, it is sometimes more difficult to isolate the material facts in a patent case than in others, in order to determine if a genuine issue exists as to them; but, if such facts can be isolated and stated with reasonable clarity, the movant is entitled to have the court do so and to determine whether or not there is a genuine issue as to them, and, if not, whether or not such party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law on such facts. If there is a genuine issue as to such material facts, then a summary judgment should not be granted by the plain terms of the rule, and it is needless to recite the numerous cases to that effect.

The Ninth Circuit, without discussing the propriety of the use of summary judgment procedures, upheld the validity of a patent, but indicated lack of infringement could have been disposed of summarily on examination of the file wrapper, at p. 545 in Moon v. Cabot Shops (9 Cir., 1959), 270 F.2d 539, cert. den. 361 U.S. 965, 80 S.Ct. 596, 4 L.Ed.2d 546. It affirmed summary judgments in Engelhard Industries v. Research Instrumental Corp., 9 Cir., 324 F.2d 347, cert. den. 377 U.S. 923, 84 S.Ct. 1220, 12 L.Ed.2d 215 (rep. below D.C., 196 F.Supp. 138); and Oregon Saw Chain Corp. v. McCulloch Motors Corp. (9 Cir., 1963), 323 F.2d 758. See also McCulloch Motors Corp. v. Oregon Saw Chain Corp. (D.C. 1964), 234 F.Supp. 256, in which this court held three patents invalid on mo *812 tions for summary judgment, the appeals from which were dismissed. In Barkeij v. Lockheed Aircraft Corp. (9 Cir., 1954), 210 F.2d 1, at page 2, the Ninth Circuit said: “ * * * it is the duty of the court to dismiss a patent infringement suit whenever it affirmatively appears that the patent is invalid.” (Citing cases.) If it affirmatively appears on a motion for summary judgment that the patent is invalid, the duty to dismiss is as compelling as it would be after hearing evidence. While the Barkeij case was dismissed at the conclusion of plaintiff’s case on trial, nevertheless, as pointed out in Allen v. Radio Corporation of America (D.C.Del.1942), 47 F.Supp. 244, there is no reason why a patent case should not be decided on a summary judgment when it appears that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact.

In light of the foregoing general principles I will proceed to an examination and determination of the matters involved on this motion.

Broadly stated, the ground for the motion is that under F.R.C.P. 56 there is no genuine issue as to the following material facts, viz.: the invention and its use was described in printed publications in this country, and the invention was in public use, on sale, and sold in this country, all more than one year prior to the earliest date to which plaintiff is entitled as the date of the application for the patent in suit, which would void the patent as being in contravention of 35 U.S.C. 102 (b). 4

Those facts are material facts on the question of validity, and if there is no genuine issue as to them, it can be said, without further discussion, that the defendant would be entitled to a judgment of invalidity of the claims involved as a matter of law.

In order to reach the question required to be resolved on this motion it is necessary to have a general understanding of the patent and the products involved. It is patent No. 2,981,689 for “Square Loop Ferrites” and was granted April 25, 1961. The “new and useful” thing which the plaintiff claims to be disclosed by the patent is that “hysteresis loops of substantially square, or rectangular shape” is a property of the ferromagnetic ceramic bodies which are produced under it.

The product involved is used in various electronic devices, but probably its greatest use is as a magnetic memory core for electric computers. It may take many forms and shapes.

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249 F. Supp. 809, 10 Fed. R. Serv. 2d 1330, 148 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 312, 1966 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10345, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/indiana-general-corp-v-lockheed-aircraft-corp-casd-1966.