Power Integrations, Inc. v. Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc.

585 F. Supp. 2d 568, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 110207, 2008 WL 4844766
District Court, D. Delaware·Decided November 7, 2008·No. C.A. No. 04-1371-JJF·Published·Cited by 15 cases

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

FARNAN, District Judge.

Pending before the Court is a Motion For Judgment As A Matter Of Law Or New Trial Regarding Invalidity Of U.S. Patent No. 4,811,075 (D.I. 616) filed by Defendants, Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc. and Fairchild Semiconductor Corporation (collectively, “Fair-child”). For the reasons discussed, the Court will deny Fairchild’s Motion.

BACKGROUND

The background relevant to this action has been set forth by the Court in previous decisions rendered in this case. (D.I. 231, 683). By way of summary, a jury returned a verdict in favor of Power Integrations on the issues of infringement, willful infringement, and damages, awarding Power Integrations slightly less than $34 million. A second, different jury also returned a verdict in favor of Power Integrations on the validity of the patents-in-suit. Inequitable conduct was tried before the Court, and the Court concluded that Fairchild failed to establish that the patents were unenforceable due to inequitable conduct. (D.I. 683, 684).

[574] DISCUSSION

I. Fairchild’s Motion For Judgment As A Matter Of Law

A. Legal Standard

To prevail on a renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law following a jury trial, 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 conclusions 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 PerkinElmer Corp. v. Computervision Corp., 732 F.2d 888, 893 (Fed.Cir.1984)); accord Price v. Delaware Department of Correction, 40 F.Supp.2d 544, 549 (D.Del.1999). In assessing the sufficiency of the evidence, the court must give the non-moving party, “as [the] verdict winner, the benefit of all logical inferences that could be drawn from the evidence presented, resolve all conflicts in the evidence in his favor, and in general, view the record in the light most favorable to him.” Williamson v. Consolidated Bail Corp., 926 F.2d 1344, 1348 (3d Cir.1991), reh’q en banc denied, 1991 U.S.App. LEXIS 16758 (3d Cir.1991); Perkin-Elmer Corp., 732 F.2d at 893.

The court may not evaluate the credibility of the witnesses, may not weigh the evidence, and may not substitute its view of the evidence for the jury’s view. Price, 40 F.Supp.2d at 550. Rather, the court must determine whether the evidence reasonably supports the jury’s verdict. Dawn Equip. Co. v. Kentucky Farms, Inc., 140 F.3d 1009, 1014 (Fed.Cir. 1998). Motions for judgment as a matter of law are granted “sparingly” and only in those circumstances in which “the record is critically deficient of the minimum quantum of evidence in support of the verdict.” Johnson v. Campbell, 332 F.3d 199, 204 (3d Cir.2003). Thus, stated succinctly, the Court must determine “whether, viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, a reasonable jury could have found for the prevailing party.” Id.

B. Whether Fairchild Is Entitled To Judgment As A Matter Of Law That Claim 1 Of The '075 Patent Is Anticipated Under 35 U.S.C. § 102(e)

By its Motion, Fairchild contends that claim 1 of the '075 patent is anticipated under Section 102(e) by U.S. Patent No. 4,823,173 (the “'173 patent” or the “Beasom patent”) invented by James Beasom. Fairchild contends that Power Integrations did not offer sufficient evidence to establish that Dr. Eklund conceived of and reduced to practice the invention claimed in the '075 patent before the filing date of the '173 patent. Because Power Integrations concedes that claim 1 of the '075 patent is contained in the earlier filed '173 patent, Fairchild contends that the '075 patent is anticipated as a matter of law under Section 102(e).

In pertinent part, 35 U.S.C. § 102(e) provides that “[a] person shall be entitled to a patent unless ... the invention was described in (1) an application for patent, published under section 122(b), by another filed in the United States before the invention by the applicant for patent or (2) a patent granted on an application for patent by another filed in the United States before the invention by the applicant for patent____” Anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102(e) requires that “each and every element as set forth in the claim is found, either expressly or inherently described, in a single prior art reference.” Verdegaal Bros., Inc. v. Union Oil Co., 814 F.2d 628, 631 (Fed.Cir.1987). To establish that a patent is prior art under Section 102(e), it must be filed before the “inven[575] tion by the applicant for patent.” 35 U.S.C. § 102(e). The Supreme Court has explained that the use of the word “invention” in Section 102(e) refers to “conception” and does not require a subsequent reduction to practice:

The primary meaning of the word “invention” in the Patent Act unquestionably refers to the inventor’s conception rather than to a physical embodiment of that idea. The statute does not contain any express requirement that an invention must be reduced to practice before it can be patented. Neither the statutory definition of the term in § 100 nor the basic conditions for obtaining a patent set forth in § 101 make any mention of “reduction to practice.”

Pfaff v. Wells Electronics, Inc., 525 U.S. 55, 60-61, 119 S.Ct. 304, 142 L.Ed.2d 261 (1998).1 Rather, the Supreme Court has expressed the view that the concept of reduction to practice is relevant to a Section 102(g) anticipation inquiry.2

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Power Integrations, Inc. v. Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc., 585 F. Supp. 2d 568, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 110207, 2008 WL 4844766 (D. Del. 2008).

585 F. Supp. 2d 568 (Power Integrations, Inc. v. Fairchild Semiconductor International, Inc.) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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