Perkinelmer Health Sciences, Inc. v. Agilent Technologies, Inc.

932 F. Supp. 2d 207, 2013 WL 139737, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3288
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedJanuary 8, 2013
DocketCivil Action No. 12-10562-NMG
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 932 F. Supp. 2d 207 (Perkinelmer Health Sciences, Inc. v. Agilent Technologies, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Perkinelmer Health Sciences, Inc. v. Agilent Technologies, Inc., 932 F. Supp. 2d 207, 2013 WL 139737, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3288 (D. Mass. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM & ORDER

GORTON, District Judge.

PerkinElmer Health Sciences, Inc. (“PerkinElmer”) alleges that Agilent Technologies, Inc. (“Agilent”) is infringing two patents pertaining to the analysis of charged ions, for which PerkinElmer holds an exclusive license. Defendant has moved to dismiss the case while plaintiff seeks leave to file an amended complaint.

For the reasons that follow, defendant’s motion to dismiss will be denied, and plaintiffs motion for leave to file an amended complaint will be allowed.1

I. Facts

In May 1989, three researchers working at Yale University (‘Yale”) applied for a patent pertaining to the analysis of charged ions. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“the PTO”) issued United States Patent No. 5,130,538 (“the '538 Patent”) to those three researchers in July, 1992. The PTO issued two related patents, United States Patent Nos. 5,686,-726 (“the '726 Patent”) and 5,581,080 (“the [209]*209'080 Patent”), to the same researchers in December, 1996 and November, 1997 respectively. All three patents were subsequently assigned to Yale, which continues to hold them.

In March 1997, Yale granted an exclusive license of the '538 Patent and any subsequently issued, related patents (“the License Agreement”) to Analytica of Bran-ford, Inc. (“AoB”) and its successors. Under that agreement, Yale retained the right to use the Patents for non-commercial purposes, to participate in infringement actions brought by AoB and to sue an alleged infringer if, after providing notice to AoB, AoB declined to sue. The License Agreement otherwise granted AoB an exclusive, world-wide license for the life of the patents. The specific rights included the “sole right” to use the Patents for commercial purposes, to sublicense the patents and to sue, defend or settle any infringement action, bearing all the expenses and retaining all recoveries resulting from those suits.

Also in March 1997, AoB granted a nonexclusive license to sell products based upon the Patents (“the Sublicense Agreement”) to Hewlett-Packard Company (“HP”). HP, in turn, assigned its rights under the Sublicense Agreement to its subsidiary, defendant Agilent Technologies. Agilent made royalty payments to AoB for the right to manufacture several devices that made use of that technology, including mass spectrometers.

AoB merged with and into PerkinElmer in 2009. As successor-by-merger, PerkinElmer became the licensee under the License Agreement and the licensor under the Sublicense Agreement. On June 28, 2011, however, Agilent informed PerkinElmer that it would no longer make royalty payments under the Sublicense Agreement because the '726 and '080 Patents were allegedly invalid due to double-patenting. Agilent subsequently declined to make royalty payments.

II. Procedural History

PerkinElmer filed a two-count complaint on March 28, 2012 alleging that Agilent willfully and materially breached the Sublicense Agreement when it failed to make royalty payments in June 2011 and continues to infringe the '726 and '080 Patents by manufacturing products that make use of those patents. PerkinElmer seeks a declaration that Agilent is infringing, damages and injunctive relief.

Agilent moved to dismiss the Complaint under Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1) on June 11, 2012, on the grounds that PerkinElmer lacks standing to sue Agilent because it does not own all substantial rights to the patent. The Court heard argument on Agilent’s motion on August 14, 2012, at the same time it entered a scheduling order.

On October 2, 2012, PerkinElmer moved to amend the Complaint in order (1) to add a breach of contract claim and (2) to revise its factual allegations to reflect the fact that Agilent is a successor in interest to the license agreement at issue in the case, rather than an original party.

III. Motion to Dismiss

Because federal courts are considered-courts of limited jurisdiction, “federal jurisdiction is never presumed.” Viqueira v. First Bank, 140 F.3d 12, 16 (1st Cir.1998). Instead, “the party invoking the jurisdiction of a- federal court carries the burden of proving its existence.” Murphy v. United States, 45 F.3d 520, 522 (1st Cir.1995).

Accordingly, a defendant may move to dismiss an action based on lack of federal subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(1) by challenging either the sufficiency of the jurisdictional facts [210]*210alleged or by controverting the accuracy of the same. Valentin v. Hospital Bella Vista, 254 F.3d 358, 363 (1st Cir.2001). When considering a sufficiency challenge, the court applies the familiar Rule 12(b)(6) standard of review and must credit the plaintiffs well-pled factual allegations and draw all reasonable inferences from them in her favor. Sanchez ex rel. D.R.-S. v. United States, 671 F.3d 86, 119 (1st Cir.2012) (citing Hospital Bella Vista, 254 F.3d at 363). Wdien defendant controverts the accuracy of the pleadings, the plaintiffs jurisdictional averments are entitled to no presumptive weight. Hospital Bella Vista, 254 F.3d at 363.

Agilent purports to controvert jurisdictional facts and the Court therefore declines to afford PerkinElmer’s averments any presumptive weight.

A. Standing to Bring an Infringement Claim

Under the Patent Act, standing to litigate patent infringement actions is limited to “the patentee to whom the patent was issued” as well as “successors in title to the patentee.” 35 U.S.C. §§ 281, 100(d). Bare licensees typically cannot sue for infringement without joining the patent owner (or “patentee”), who holds the title to the patent in trust for the licensee. Abbott Laboratories v. Diamedix Corp., 47 F.3d 1128, 1131 (Fed.Cir.1995). The presence of the patent owner serves both to give the court jurisdiction and to enable the alleged infringer to respond in one action to all claims of infringement for his act. Id.

An exclusive licensee, however, is considered a successor in title with standing to sue for patent infringement if the patent owner transferred “all substantial rights” to the patent under the license agreement. Id. at 1132-33; Vaupel Textilmaschinen KG v. Meccanica Euro Italia S.P.A., 944 F.2d 870, 874 (Fed.Cir.1991).

To determine whether all substantial rights were transferred from the patentee to the licensee, courts review both what rights were granted and what rights were retained under the license agreement. Alfred E.

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932 F. Supp. 2d 207, 2013 WL 139737, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3288, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/perkinelmer-health-sciences-inc-v-agilent-technologies-inc-mad-2013.