[Download] "Orthopedic Equipment Co. v. United States" by United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ~ Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Orthopedic Equipment Co. v. United States
- Author : United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
- Release Date : January 11, 1983
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 74 KB
Description
Both sides appeal from the judgment of the United States Claims Court* in this patent infringement suit. Appellants Orthopedic Equipment Company, Inc. (Orthopedic) and Marriott Corporation (Marriott), plaintiffs in the suit, brought this action pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1498 seeking compensation for the unauthorized manufacture or use by or for the United States of a nation-wide material handling system which is alleged to infringe claims 1, 2, 6, and 7 of United States Letters Patent No. 3,304,416 (the Wolf patent), entitled ""Business Order Control System Apparatus."" They filed administrative claims for compensation with several Department of Defense agencies for infringement of the Wolf patent. The first of these administrative claims was filed in July 1976; none of the claims has ever been denied. The present suit was filed in the United States Court of Claims on May 6, 1977. Then Trial Judge Colaianni, after a trial, issued an opinion and findings holding that the invention set forth in claims 1, 2, 6 and 7 of the Wolf patent would have been obvious within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 103 and that the claims were therefore invalid. He either rejected or declined to pass upon other defenses raised by the United States. But he did decide that the plaintiffs were entitled to collect $1,181.25 as part of the reasonable and necessary costs of a certain deposition. The final judgment was that, upon payment by the United States to the plaintiffs-appellants of $1,181.25 as part of those deposition costs, the petition was to be dismissed. Plaintiffs appeal from the determination of invalidity, and defendant appeals from the award of deposition costs and also from the judge's failure to consider, or his rejection of, most of the Government's other defenses. Because we agree with Judge Colaianni's reasons for his decision that the claims were invalid for obviousness, we confine our discussion of invalidity to those points and do not consider the United States' contentions that invalidity can be reached on other grounds. On the question of obviousness (Part I infra) our opinion incorporates, for the most part, Judge Colaianni's opinion. We also consider (Part II infra) the issue of deposition costs.