Smartgene, Inc. v. Advanced Biological Laboratories, SA

915 F. Supp. 2d 69, 2013 WL 40321, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 855
CourtCourt of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit
DecidedJanuary 3, 2013
DocketCivil Action No. 08-00642 (BAH)
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 915 F. Supp. 2d 69 (Smartgene, Inc. v. Advanced Biological Laboratories, SA) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smartgene, Inc. v. Advanced Biological Laboratories, SA, 915 F. Supp. 2d 69, 2013 WL 40321, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 855 (D.C. Cir. 2013).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

BERYL A. HOWELL, District Judge.

Defendants Advanced Biological Laboratories, SA and ABL Patent Licensing Technologies, SARL (collectively “ABL”) have filed a Motion for Reconsideration under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e), see ECF No. 67, requesting that this Court reconsider its Order granting summary judgment of patent, invalidity in favor of Plaintiff SmartGene, Inc. For the reasons explained below, the three grounds proffered by the defendants for reconsideration are unavailing, and the motion is denied.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND1

Plaintiff SmartGene, Inc., a North Carolina corporation, brought this lawsuit against defendant Advanced Biological Laboratories, SA, a company with its principal place of business in Luxembourg, seeking declaratory judgment as to the invalidity, unenforceability, and Smart-Gene’s non-infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,081,786 (the “786 patent”) and U.S. Patent No. 6,188,988 B1 (the “988 patent”) (collectively, the “patents-in-suit”). See First Am. Compl. for Declaratory Judgment (“Am. Compl.”), ECF No. 4. After prolonged litigation, including a consensual stay of proceedings of two and a half years, see Order, ECF No. 19 (dated February 3, 2009), granting plaintiffs unopposed motion to stay, SmartGene filed a Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, contending that the “patents-in-suit are facially invalid as directed to non-statutory subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101.” Pl.’s Mot. for Part. Summ. J. of Invalidity Under 35 U.S.C. § 101 (“PL’s Mot. for Part. Summ. J.”), ECF No. 47.2

[72]*72This Court granted the plaintiffs Motion for Partial Summary Judgment, finding that “the defendants’ Patent Nos. 6,081,786 and 6,188,988 B1 constitute ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101, and are therefore invalid.” SmartGene, Inc. v. Advanced Biological Labs., SA 852 F.Supp.2d 42, 66 (D.D.C.2012).

Following the Court’s decision, the defendants moved for reconsideration under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 59(e), and submitted in support of that motion over 1500 pages of declarations and exhibits, including materials not previously provided to the Court for consideration. See Defs.’ Mot. for Reconsideration Under F.R.C.P. 59(e) (“Defs.’ Mot.”), ECF No. 67. The plaintiff SmartGene, Inc. opposes the defendants’ Motion for Reconsideration, see PL’s Opp’n to Defs.’ Mot. for Reconsideration Under F.R.C.P. 59(e) (“PL’s Opp’n”), ECF No. 69, and has moved to strike the declarations and exhibits attached to the defendants’ Motion for Reconsideration, see Pl.’s Mot. to Strike the Declarations and Certain Exhibits Attached to Defs.’ Mot. for Reconsideration (“PL’s Mot. to Strike”), ECF No. 68. Both the defendants’ Motion for Reconsideration and the plaintiffs Motion to Strike are now pending before the Court.3

II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

“ ‘A Rule 59(e) motion is discretionary and need not be granted unless the district court finds that there is an intervening change of controlling law, the availability of new evidence, or the need to correct a clear error or prevent manifest injustice.’ ” Messina v. Krakower, 439 F.3d 755, 758 (D.C.Cir.2006) (quoting Firestone v. Firestone, 76 F.3d 1205, 1208 (D.C.Cir.1996)). A motion for reconsideration under Rule 59(e) is “ ‘not simply an opportunity to reargue facts and theories upon which a court has already ruled.’ ” Fresh Kist Produce, LLC v. Choi Corp., 251 F.Supp.2d 138, 140 (D.D.C.2003) (quoting New York v. United States, 880 F.Supp. 37, 38 (D.D.C.1995)). Moreover, “the reconsideration and amendment of a previous order is an unusual measure.” Swedish Am. Hosp. v. Sebelius, 845 F.Supp.2d 245, 250 (D.D.C.2012); see also Jung v. Ass’n of Am. Med. Colls., 184 Fed.Appx. 9, 13 (D.C.Cir.2006) (noting “the high standard for relief under Rule 59(e)”); Niedermeier v. Office of Max S. Baucus, 153 F.Supp.2d 23, 28 (D.D.C.2001) (“Motions under [Rule 59(e) ] are disfavored and relief from judgment is granted only when the moving party establishes extraordinary circumstances.”). “Rule 59 was not intended to allow a second bite at the apple.” Oceana, Inc. v. Evans, 389 F.Supp.2d 4, 8 (D.D.C.2005). “In addressing the claims of a party on a motion for reconsideration, the Court is free to expand upon or clarify the reasons supporting its prior ruling.” Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Kappos, 891 F.Supp.2d 135, 138 (D.D.C.2012).

III. DISCUSSION

The defendants argue that reconsideration of this Court’s Order granting summary judgment for Plaintiff SmartGene, Inc. “is necessary for three reasons.” [73]*73Defs.’ Brief in Supp. of its Mot. for Reconsideration Under F.R.C.P. 59(e) (“Defs.’ Brief’), ECF No. 67-1, at 1. First, the defendants argue that the Court erred in “invalidating all claims of the patents-in-suit, including unasserted claims.” Id. Second, the defendants argue that “invalidating every claim of both patents, or even the four asserted claims, based solely on an analysis of claim 1 of the '786 patent is an error of law.” Id. Third, the defendants argue that this Court’s ruling “is premised on a clear error of fact and law given that there was a change in controlling law subsequent to the summary judgment proceedings in this case,” namely the Supreme Court’s decision in Mayo Collaborative Servs. v. Prometheus Labs., Inc., — U.S. —, 132 S.Ct. 1289, 182 L.Ed.2d 321 (2012), which the defendants argue they should have been “provided an opportunity to brief.” Defs.’ Brief at 1. In connection with this third argument, the defendants have submitted evidence that “ABL seeks to present given the Prometheus Court’s holdings,” id. at 7, in the form of a declaration from a named inventor of the patents-in-suit, a declaration of a patent attorney involved in prosecuting the patents-in-suit, and hundreds of pages of related exhibits. See ECF Nos. 67-4, 67-5, 67-6, 67-7, 67-8, 67-9, 67-10, 67-11, 67-12, 67-13, 67-14, 67-15, 67-16, 67-17, 67-18, 67-19, 67-20, 67-21, 67-22, 67-23, 67-24, 67-25, 67-26, 67-27, 67-28, 67-29, and 67-30 (totaling over 1500 pages). The Court addresses these arguments seriatim below.

First, the Court turns to the defendants’ contention that “invalidating all claims of the patents-in-suit, including unasserted claims, is an error of law.” Defs.’ Brief at 1.

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Bluebook (online)
915 F. Supp. 2d 69, 2013 WL 40321, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 855, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smartgene-inc-v-advanced-biological-laboratories-sa-cadc-2013.